Vegetation growing in the water and on the banks of a waterway forms an important part of the habitat. Bank vegetation provides shade to cool the water and a habitat for insect life. It stabilises the banks and helps to filter nutrient and sediment run-off. Aquatic vegetation is a habitat for invertebrates and fish living in the water. Land use and introduced species can have negative impacts on vegetation.
Dr Eloise Ryan tells us about the importance of land cover and the impacts of land use. Select here to view the video transcript.
The following resources explore the importance of riparian vegetation on water quality and freshwater aquatic habitats.
Articles
Transcript
DR ELOISE RYAN
Land cover is an important factor impacting water quality. For example, if you have a stream that’s surrounded by forests and there’s nice trees covering the stream, that will provide shade to prevent things like periphyton or nasty algae growing, and also shade lowers water temperature, and our native fish and invertebrates really like cool water. Also planting trees – riparian planting – provides food and a carbon source for our fish and invertebrates, whereas if you have a stream with no riparian planting, it’s more susceptible to what’s on the land. For example, soil will be washed into it, and with soil comes nutrients and sediment, and that can really impact fish. With no riparian planting, the stream will heat up, and when water gets hot, it loses its oxygen and fish really need oxygen to breathe as well. So the land use cover really does impact the water quality.
Acknowledgements
Dr Eloise Ryan
Waikato Regional Council
Footage of riffles in partially shaded stream with eel, Meet the Locals: Tuna, Department of Conservation. Released under CC BY 3.0
Acknowledgement
This video has been developed in partnership with the Waikato Regional Council as part of the Rivers and Us resource.
