How is riparian health measured?
There are diverse ways to measure and understand riparian areas, especially since these areas...
Are dynamic and hard to delineate
Face pressures from land use & development
Are best assessed for intactness, health, or condition using multiple tools or methods
Overview of Each Method's Strengths and Weaknesses
Field-based Assessments & Inventories
Strengths of Field-based Riparian Health
Assessments and Inventories:
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Allows for more rapid assessment of site specific changes (natural or human caused) due to the method's high level of detail
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Pairs well with on-the-ground management or restoration
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Informs local landowners and and allows for site-specific management actions
Cows and Fish began conducting riparian health assessments and inventories associated with streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands in Alberta in 1995.
RIPARIAN HEALTH ASSESSMENT
These on-the-ground assessments give a quick sense of what landowners and others managing land are looking for when looking at riparian health. The area is scored according to the amount of:
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Area covered by any plant species, cattails and bulrushes, and woody plants (and signs of browsing or new growth)
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Plant community alterations (e.g. removal of woody plants or replacement by invasive or disturbance species)
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Deep-binding roots on the banks
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Water level altered by human means
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Human alteration via bare ground or changes to the physical site (including banks)
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Erosion of the bed of the stream channel
RIPARIAN HEALTH INVENTORIES
A more thorough inventory which allows resource management professionals to capture specific changes over time. These include:
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All details in the Riparian Health Assessment
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Detailed plant species and community structure
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Materials that make up the bank and bed (eg. clay, silt, rocks)
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Kinds and causes of human impacts
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The influence of water on the site
Outcomes of Riparian Assessment & Inventories:
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Establishes benchmark data for future monitoring
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Provides a basis for recommendations on management and restoration
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Motivates change for landowners
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Enables evaluation impact of management changes over time
For more details about doing a riparian health assessment or a riparian health inventory, please visit Cows and Fish’s website at https://cowsandfish.org/health-assessment-and-inventory-forms/
Examples of various types of field-based monitoring:
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The Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network (CABIN): This is led by Environment and Climate Change Canada and provides standardized methods for monitoring aquatic ecosystem health by sampling organisms. It also supports collaboration and data sharing through its online database. Learn more here.
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Foreshore Integrated Management Planning (FIMP) previously known as Sensitive Habitat Inventory Mapping or SHIM: This survey is a boat-based shoreline assessment that maps and inventories lake foreshore habitats, documenting land use, development, and ecological conditions. Learn more here.
Field-based Method Examples
HEALTHY
Boreal Wetland
HEALTHY
WITH
PROBLEMS
Grassland River
Foothills River
UNHEALTHY
Aerial Videography Method
Strengths of Aerial Videography:
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Covers large areas relatively quickly
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Helps measure large water bodies, especially lakes
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Informs management actions of community organizations or regional planning initiatives
AERIAL VIDEOGRAPHY
Aerial videography measures the health of riparian areas using video footage from low-level flights or drones that are flown along lake and wetland shorelines and river or stream banks.* This method was most commonly used between 2005-2015.
Riparian areas are scored and rated in one of 3 categories:
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Good/Healthy
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Fair/Moderately Impaired
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Poor/Impaired
Like the Field-based Method**, the area is scored according to the amount of:
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Area covered by many plant species, cattails and bulrushes, and woody plants (and signs of new growth)
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Human alteration via bare ground, plant community alterations, or changes to the physical site (including banks)
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Human alteration via bare ground or changes to the physical site (including banks)
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Shoreline or bank stability
*Note that there may be limitations or restrictions in the use of drones in certain areas. Ensure that you follow all applicable regulations.
** The similarity of the Aerial Method to the Field-Based Method is because this method was based on Cows and Fish's Field-based Riparian Health Assessment methods.
Aerial Videography Method Examples
HEALTHY
MODERATE
UNHEALTHY
Satellite Data Method
Strengths of Satellite Data:
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Covers large, continuous areas
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Assesses riparian intactness at a watershed or regional level
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Assesses upland pressure on riparian areas
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Allows for comparisons between water bodies or watersheds
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Prioritizes restoration and conservation efforts when intactness is paired with upland pressure on riparian areas
SATELLITE DATA
Satellite Data is a newer method which has become more common since 2015.
Riparian Intactness measures the extent to which natural habitat has been altered or impaired by human activity and uses 3 metrics to look at the amount of:
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Natural vegetation
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Woody vegetation
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Human footprint or impact in that area
OUTCOMES
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Creates a starting point to observe widescale riparian changes over time
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Identifies riparian areas that need extra attention due to human impacts
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Provides watershed-scale guidance to municipal and Non-profit programs that support landowners
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Provides recommendations to landowners which should always be paired with on-the-ground assessment results.
The Riparian Web Portal uses satellite data to view riparian intactness and displays the data as color-coded sections on the map.
This data needs to be analyzed and uploaded to the portal; therefore intactness data is only available on the portal where this method has been completed.
Satellite Data Method Examples
HIGH
INTACTNESS
Vegetation present.
Little or no human footprint.
MODERATE
INTACTNESS
Vegetation present. Some human footprint.
LOW
INTACTNESS
Vegetation limited. Human footprint prevalent.
VERY LOW
INTACTNESS
Vegetation mostly cleared. Human footprint dominant.
