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Issue: Habitat scale influences - Riparian vegetation

This is an issue under the Inland waters theme of the Data Reporting System.

Why we need to know about this issue

Riparian vegetation shades surface waters and provides habitats and food for both terrestrial and aquatic biota. Riparian vegetation also plays an important role in filtering catchment run-off, maintaining stream bank stability light limitation of algal blooms and as a source of carbon to streams.

In many areas, riparian vegetation has been removed or is seriously degraded due to the effects of grazing, land clearing, modified flow regimes, salinity, floodplain isolation and changes in resident species of plants and animals.

The preservation of riparian vegetation is critical to the long term sustainability of catchments.

Indicators

• IW-26 Forested streamlength 
  Although the indicator does not provide insight into the extent or condition of riparian vegetation, forested streamlength does provide a direct and measurable indication of how much of the length of Australian streams are protected by streamside vegetation, the streams, where it continues to be lost, where revegetation is occurring, and the rate at which the loss or revegetation is occurring.
• IW-34 Examples of deterioration of condition of wetland vegetation 
  Condition of wetland species of vegetation may be indicative of condition of riparian vegetation more generally.

Related issues

• Biodiversity - Pressures on biodiversity- Land clearing 
• Biodiversity - Landscapes- Ecosystem diversity 
• Biodiversity - Landscapes- Government action on landscape protection 
• Land - Land condition- Hydrology 
• Land - Direct pressure of human activities on the land- Land clearing 
• Land - Contributions and pressures between the land and inland water- Pressures of changes to the land on inland waters 
• Land - Contributions and pressures between the land and inland water- Pressures of changes to inland waters on land 
• Inland Waters - Catchment scale influences- Land and vegetation condition- Vegetation