Discovery Farms® Riparian Buffer Research Findings

Dr. Kedija Awole, KCD’s Senior Research Coordinator Discovery Farms, will be sharing research findings of the Washington State Discovery Farms® Buffer Research Project on Monday, November 29 from 12pm-1pm.

Vegetated riparian buffers are critical to providing shade for salmon and other species to protect streams from summer heat. Though there is a consensus around the benefits of riparian vegetation for moderating stream temperature, questions remain around the extent and size of the buffer for effective temperature regulation. To date, most riparian buffer effectiveness studies have focused on forested land use but there are limited buffer studies available on agricultural land to inform buffer requirements.

To fill this data gap, KCD monitored the stream and air temperatures of thirty perennial waterways with different riparian buffer widths to better understand how riparian buffers and associated channel characteristics influence stream temperature.

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