The effect of riparian forested corridors on native biodiversity in suburban and agricultural landscapes

Graduate Research Assistants: Gavin Ferris (M.S. Applied Ecology)

Collaborators: Dr. Vince D'Amico (United States Forest Service), United States Forest Service, University of Delaware, University of Delaware Research Foundation

With increasing development in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, the suburban landscape is slowly becoming the dominate landuse regime over the traditional agricultural or forested dominated regimes. With increasing suburbanization, this change has the potential to increase water runoff rates and influence watershed health. In modern landuse regimes, stream corridors are some of the few remaining wooded areas. Consequently, the impact of corridor width and composition, in relation to landuse regimes outside the corridor, need to be understood to promote increased ecosystem health. Both the water quality and biodiversity aspects of riparian corridor ecology are of interest to this project. To this end we are investigating the impact of riparian corridors on native biodiversity on 3 fronts. 1) We are using soil chemistry profiles, stream morphology, and stream temperature to investigate the physical and chemical influences of corridor width on aquatic habitat quality as well as the efficacy of forested riparian corridors of various widths as buffers against non-point source nutrient pollution. 2) We are measuring the ability of riparian buffers to minimize the negative influence of invasive plants on wildlife habitat. Because these plants can be spread by streams and because native flora is a vital component of wildlife habitat, we are trying to determine what width of buffer effectively excludes invasive plants from the corridor interior. 3) We are collecting macroinvertebrates from streams with varying buffer widths to assess the impact of buffer width on the aquatic biota itself. Our study will be conducted on the White Clay Creek watershed within Chester County, PA, New Castle County, DE, and Cecil County, MD.

Photo Credit: Chris Williams