IMPORTANCE

 Provide numerous and positive benefits to water quality, agricultural

production, wildlife habitat, and landscape aesthetics.
 Improve the quality of soil, water, and air.
 Buffers can trap >70% of sediments and >50% of nutrients depending on
the plant species, management, and climate.
 They are multifunctional systems.
 Above the surface, buffer reduce the runoff velocity and trap sediments
and nutrients.
 Below the surface, they stabilize the soil in place, bind the soil
aggregates, improve the structural characteristics, and increase soil
organic matter content and water transmission characteristics.
 On sloping soils, buffer strips prevent slope failure.
Ex: mass movement, land slide
 IMPORTANCE
 Buffer strips anchor the shorelines of the water bodies and dissipate
the erosive energy of water waves.
 Also important to wildlife habitat recovery and protection of
biodiversity.
 Protect livestock and wildlife from wind and snow hazards and
provide food, shelter, and safe corridors for wildlife animals and birds.
 Buffers have important implications for both rural and urban
landscapes.
 Runoff volume, rate, and peak rate and sediment load increase
linearly with increase in urban areas.
IMPORTANCE