Riparian buffer at the Loretto Motherhouse
So, if you’re like me, you said, “What the heck’s a riparian buffer?” Stay tuned…
Ok, I’m back. Well, a riparian buffer is the land which borders both sides of a stream. It has a great effect on the stream’s water quality, the wildlife both in and out of the stream, and the nearby land. The buffer also acts as a filter–removing sediments and contaminants from agricultural fields before they enter the stream. A good riparian buffer contains native grasses, flowers, shrubs, and deep-rooted trees; in other words, both woody and non-woody plants.
Below, you see a picture of a degraded riparian buffer–not good! The stream bank is eroding, causing a loss of usable land and a build-up of sediment in the stream bed. The stream bed shallows and wildlife habitats are lost.
The picture below shows a well-managed riparian buffer–very good! The forested area on either side of the stream provides a valuable wildlife corridor, keeps the stream bank from eroding, and cleans the water.
The Loretto Motherhouse riparian buffers help to keep the waste runoff from the cow pastures and the cropped areas from entering the streams. The cattle are not allowed to graze the buffers, and hardwood trees are being encouraged to grow by removing the cedars. The buffers need to be maintained, and this requires some hard labor! Fortunately, a hardy troop of volunteers from the SIUE CNSU recently visited the Motherhouse to wrestle with the cedars! Yay–volunteers!
