How are riparian buffer zones around Swedish headwaters implemented? : a case study

Riparian zones are the transition zones between aquatic and terrestrial environments. They perform numerous important ecological functions. To protect these functions, keeping riparian buffer zones when performing forestry operations around streams is a commonly used practice. In this case study, I...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Jonsson, Anna
Formato: H2
Lenguaje:Inglés
sueco
Publicado: SLU/Dept. of Forest Ecology and Management 2018
Materias:
_version_ 1855572229901778944
author Jonsson, Anna
author_browse Jonsson, Anna
author_facet Jonsson, Anna
author_sort Jonsson, Anna
collection Epsilon Archive for Student Projects
description Riparian zones are the transition zones between aquatic and terrestrial environments. They perform numerous important ecological functions. To protect these functions, keeping riparian buffer zones when performing forestry operations around streams is a commonly used practice. In this case study, I investigated how riparian buffer zones around 119 headwaters in northern and southern Sweden are implemented using Rapid Assessment Survey (RAS). I found that 11 % of streams had < 0.1 m wide buffer, 58 % had a buffer 0.1-5 m width, 26 % hade a buffer 5-15 m wide, and 5 % had a buffer wider than 15 m. Northern sites had significantly wider buffers than southern sites. Further, results indicated that neither size of the stream nor size of the clear-cut area influence which buffer width a stream would get. Tree type (coniferous/deciduous) composition of mature trees and saplings of retained buffers differed among buffer width categories and between southern and northern Sweden, and was to some degree a result of the forestry operations within buffers (selective logging). The results also supports that number of deadwood in the stream and shading of the stream are increasing, while the magnitude of impairments connected to forest operations are decreasing, with increasing buffer width. Knowledge of how Swedish headwaters are treated during forest operations, as demonstrated in this study, could help in assessing local effects on small streams due to forest operations as well as cumulative downstream effects on downstream reaches.
format H2
id RepoSLU13353
institution Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
language Inglés
swe
publishDate 2018
publishDateSort 2018
publisher SLU/Dept. of Forest Ecology and Management
publisherStr SLU/Dept. of Forest Ecology and Management
record_format eprints
spelling RepoSLU133532018-06-26T10:08:45Z How are riparian buffer zones around Swedish headwaters implemented? : a case study Hur implementeras skyddszoner runt små vattendrag i Sverige? : en fallstudie Jonsson, Anna riparian buffer zones Sweden small streams forestry skyddszoner Sverige små bäckar skogsbruk Riparian zones are the transition zones between aquatic and terrestrial environments. They perform numerous important ecological functions. To protect these functions, keeping riparian buffer zones when performing forestry operations around streams is a commonly used practice. In this case study, I investigated how riparian buffer zones around 119 headwaters in northern and southern Sweden are implemented using Rapid Assessment Survey (RAS). I found that 11 % of streams had < 0.1 m wide buffer, 58 % had a buffer 0.1-5 m width, 26 % hade a buffer 5-15 m wide, and 5 % had a buffer wider than 15 m. Northern sites had significantly wider buffers than southern sites. Further, results indicated that neither size of the stream nor size of the clear-cut area influence which buffer width a stream would get. Tree type (coniferous/deciduous) composition of mature trees and saplings of retained buffers differed among buffer width categories and between southern and northern Sweden, and was to some degree a result of the forestry operations within buffers (selective logging). The results also supports that number of deadwood in the stream and shading of the stream are increasing, while the magnitude of impairments connected to forest operations are decreasing, with increasing buffer width. Knowledge of how Swedish headwaters are treated during forest operations, as demonstrated in this study, could help in assessing local effects on small streams due to forest operations as well as cumulative downstream effects on downstream reaches. Den bäcknära zonen är övergångsområden mellan vatten- och landmiljö och den är värd för flera viktiga ekologiska funktioner. För att skydda dessa funktioner är det vanligt att lämna buffertzoner, remsor av träd vid vattendrag när skogsbruksåtgärder utförs. I denna fallstudie undersökte jag hur buffertzoner runt 119 små bäckar i norra och södra Sverige implementeras. Detta gjordes med hjälp av snabb utvärderings metod (RAS). Jag fann att, 11 % av bäckarna hade en buffertzon på <0.1 m, 58 % hade en buffertzon på 0.1-5 m, 26 % hade en buffertzon på 5-15 m och 5 % hade en buffertzon på >15 m. Studielokalerna i norra Sverige hade signifikant bredare buffertzoner än de i södra Sverige. Vidare indikerade resultatet på att varken storleken på bäcken eller storleken på kalhygget de flyter igenom verkar påverka vilken bredd buffertzonen ges. Trädtypssammansättning (barrträd/lövträd) av mogna träd och plantor skiljer sig mellan olika kategorier av buffertzons bredder. Resultaten visar också att mängden död ved i bäcken och skuggningen av bäcken ökar, medan mängden störningar direkt och indirekt kopplade till skogsbruk minskar med ökande bredd på buffertzonen. Kunskap om hur svenska små bäckar behandlas vid skogsbruksåtgärder, som i denna studie, kan bidra till att bedöma lokala effekter av skogsbruk på små bäckar samt kumulativa effekter på nedströms vattendrag. SLU/Dept. of Forest Ecology and Management 2018 H2 eng swe https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/13353/
spellingShingle riparian buffer zones
Sweden
small streams
forestry
skyddszoner
Sverige
små bäckar
skogsbruk
Jonsson, Anna
How are riparian buffer zones around Swedish headwaters implemented? : a case study
title How are riparian buffer zones around Swedish headwaters implemented? : a case study
title_full How are riparian buffer zones around Swedish headwaters implemented? : a case study
title_fullStr How are riparian buffer zones around Swedish headwaters implemented? : a case study
title_full_unstemmed How are riparian buffer zones around Swedish headwaters implemented? : a case study
title_short How are riparian buffer zones around Swedish headwaters implemented? : a case study
title_sort how are riparian buffer zones around swedish headwaters implemented? : a case study
topic riparian buffer zones
Sweden
small streams
forestry
skyddszoner
Sverige
små bäckar
skogsbruk