Rainfall across a landscape moves through drainage lines, intermittent creeks and small streams to the major river of the catchment. During its journey, the water picks up eroding soil, nutrients, salt or other contaminants, and moves them into the river system. It also transports food, in the form of nutrients, leaf litter, fine particles of organic matter and other dissolved substances, for aquatic plants and animals. The close relationship between how land is managed and the impacts it has on in-stream life means that the two must be considered together when making any management decisions.
The relationship between a river system and its catchment is linked most strongly in riparian areas. Vegetation exerts a powerful influence on where the river is located in the landscape, on in-stream energy production and on the type and quantity of food matter and nutrients in the stream.
These natural log jams provide important habitat
for fish, as well as creating diversity in the
streambed by forming deep pools and holes.
Photo Andrew Brooks.
The full fact sheet is available in Adobe Acrobat format:
Fact Sheet 4 - Maintaining in-stream life (facts04.pdf, 387Kb)
Topics covered
- How riparian vegetation influences in-stream life
- Shading
- Temperature
- Food sources for aquatic plants and animals
- Bank stability
- Woody debris
- Filtering nutrients and sediments
- Planning riparian management for river ecosystems
- Retention and management of riparian vegetation
- Managing stock access to streams
- Planned management of woody debris
This Fact Sheet is the forth in a series dealing with the management of riparian land.
