Riparian Forest Buffers
A riparian forest buffer is an area adjacent to a stream, lake, or wetland that contains a combination of trees, shrubs, and/or other perennial plants and is managed differently from the surrounding landscape, primarily to provide conservation benefits. Riparian buffers can also be managed to include trees and shrubs that produce a harvestable crop along with the conservation benefits, although this is less common. Buffers are used in agricultural, row crop, range, suburban, and urban settings. A wide variety of state and federal programs support the installation of riparian forest buffers on public and private lands.
Riparian forest buffers can deliver a number benefits including filtering nutrients, pesticides, and animal waste from agricultural land runoff; stabilizing eroding banks; filtering sediment from runoff; providing shade, shelter, and food for fish and other aquatic organisms; providing wildlife habitat and corridors for terrestrial organisms; protecting cropland and downstream communities from flood damage; producing income from farmland that is frequently flooded or has poor yields; providing space for recreation; and diversifying landowner income.
Riparian forest buffers can be included in landscape-scale green infrastructure plans to serve a variety of functions, particularly along the rural-urban interface. Green infrastructure is an approach to conservation that involves creating a network of green areas to benefit people and wildlife.

A number of factors can impact the effectiveness of riparian forest buffers in meeting these objectives. These include site conditions such as adjacent agricultural practices and crop types, stream size, topography, and soils; landscape conditions such as position in the watershed, adjacent land use, and buffer continuity; and other conditions such as markets and public interest. Riparian forest buffer planning and design is important for enhancing the effectiveness of riparian buffers.
Riparian Forest Buffers Publications
Information Sheets
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Brochures
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Inside Agroforestry
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So Many Trees To Choose From
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Why Agroforestry?
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Finding Agroforestry In The 2014 Farm Bill
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Learn How You Can Use Agroforestry To Help Pollinators
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Helping Wildlife Helps You!
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Locally Sourced
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Extreme Weather
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Riparian Forest Buffer Apps" For Your Smart Farm"
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Now Is The Time For Agroforestry!
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Small, But Mighty
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Beyond The Fence Line
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Fuel For The Future
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A Diverse Portfolio
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Diamonds In The Rough
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Northern Exposure: Agroforestry In Canada
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Water Quantity/quality: Half-full Or Half-empty Of What
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Tool Talk
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Wildlife Adds Punctuation To The Novel Of Life
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2002 Farm Bill
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Getting Buffers On The Ground: A Group Effort
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Spring 2000
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... Including The Carbon Sink
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Fall/Winter 1999-2000
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Spring 1999
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Spring 1998
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Summer 1997
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Spring 1997
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Fall 1997
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Fall 1996
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Spring 1994
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Summer 1994
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Winter 1993
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Fall 1993
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Summer 1993
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Fall 1992
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Agroforestry Notes
Agroforestry Note
Using Agroforestry Practices To Reduce Pesticide Risks To Pollinators & Other Agriculturally Beneficial Insects
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Riparian Forest Buffers: An Agroforestry Practice
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Agroforestry Note
How To Design A Riparian Buffer For Agricultural Land
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Guide To A Successful Agroforestry Demonstration Project
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A Riparian Buffer Design For Cropland
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Riparian Buffers For Agricultural Land
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Research
Research
A Cultural Landscape Archive: Digitizing The New Deal’s Prairie States Forestry Project
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Silvopasture In The USA: A Systematic Review Of Natural Resource Professional And Producer-reported Benefits, Challenges, And Management Activities
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Challenges And Opportunities For Agroforestry Practitioners To Participate In State Preferential Property Tax Programs For Agriculture And Forestry
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Making Trees Outside Forests Count
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Windbreaks In The United States: A Systematic Review Of Producer-reported Benefits, Challenges, Management Activities And Drivers Of Adoption
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Windbreaks Of The Great Plains Story Map
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Temperate Agroforestry Systems & Insect Pollinators: A Review
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High-resolution Land Cover Of Kansas
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Diseases Of Trees In The Great Plains
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Simulating The Dynamics Of Linear Forests In Great Plains Agroecosystems Unfer Changing Climates
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Analyzing The Uncertainties In Use Of Forest-derived Biomass Equations For Open-grown Trees In Agricultural Land
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Working Trees: Supporting Agriculture And Healthy Landscapes
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A Win-win On Agricultural Lands: Creating Wildlife Habitat Through Agroforestry
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13th North American Agroforestry Conference Proceedings
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Enhancing Ecosystem Services: Designing For Multifunctionality
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Biofuel Feedstock From Riparian Buffers: A Win-win For Climate And Water Quality
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Indexes For Targeting Buffer Placement To Improve Water Quality
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Branching Out: Agroforestry As A Climate Change Mitigation And Adaptation Tool For Agriculture
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Comparative Water Use By Riparian Forest, Grass, And Crops In The Great Plains
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Indexes For Targetting Buffer Placement To Improve Water Quality
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Multiple Function Benefit – Cost Comparison Of Conservation Buffer Placement Strategies
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Proceedings Of The ASA-CSA-SSSA International Annual Meetings
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A Role For Agroforestry In Forest Restoration In The Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley
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Connecting Landscape Fragments Through Riparian Zones
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Improved Indexes For Targeting Placement Of Buffers Of Hortonian Runoff
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The Use Of Forest-derived Specific Gravity For The Conversion Of Volume To Biomass For Open-grown Trees On Agricultural Land
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A Design Aid For Sizing Filter Strips Using Buffer Area Ratio
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Carbon Sequestration In Agricultural Lands Of The United States
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The Role Of Riparian Vegetation In Protecting And Improving Chemical Water Quality In Streams
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Riparian Forest Buffers: Building A Sustainable Bioenergy Future
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From Dust Bowl To Mud Bowl
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Creatively Communicating Conservation Complexity
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Colloque Aménagement D'une Zone Riveraine Multifonctionnelle: Pour Une Plus Grande Biodiversité En Milieu Agricole
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Testing A Simple Field Method For Assessing Nitrate Removal In Riparian Zones
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Filling The Gap: Improving Estimates Of Working Tree Resources In Agricultural Landscapes
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Methods To Prioritize Placement Of Riparian Buffers For Improved Water Quality
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Modeling Runoff And Sediment Yield From A Terraced Watershed Using Wepp
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Riparian Buffer Design Guidelines For Water Quality And Wildlife Habitat Functions On Agricultural Landscapes In The Intermountain West
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Using Soil Surveys To Target Riparian Buffers In The Chesapeake Bay Watershed
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Building Bigger Better Buffers For Bioenergy
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Agroforestry: Working Trees For Sequestering Carbon On Agricultural Lands
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A Design Aid For Determining Width Of Filter Strips
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Buffer And Vegetative Filter Strips
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Managing Agricultural Landscapes For Environmental Quality: Strengthening The Science Base
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Change In Filter Strip Performance Over Ten Years
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An Approach For Using Soil Surverys To Guide The Placement Of Water Quality Buffers
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Developing And Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract
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Perennial Crops For Bio-fuels And Conservation
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Modeling Water And Sediment Trapping By Vegetated Filters Using VFSMOD: Comparing Methods For Estimating Infiltration Parameters
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Agroforestry-Working Trees For Sequestering Carbon On Ag-Lands
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Inventorying Trees In Agricultural Landscapes: Towards An Accounting Of Working Trees
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Placement Of Riparian Forest Buffers To Improve Water Quality
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Flow Pathways And Sediment Trapping In A Field-scale Vegetative Filter
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Establishing Conservation Buffers Using Precision Information
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Picture This
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Modeling Sediment Trapping In A Vegetative Filter Accounting For Converging Overland Flow
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Synthesis Of Design Guidelines And Experimental Data For Water Quality Function In Agricultural Landscaps In The Intermountain West
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Precision Conservation In North America
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Tool Time: Melding Watershed And Site Goals On Private Lands
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Visualizing Food And Farm
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Toward Quantifying Water Pollution Abatement In Response To Installing Buffers On Crop Land
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Visualizing Agroforestry Alternatives Or Pixel This!
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Wher Should Buffers Go? Modeling Riparian Habitat Connectivity In Northeast Kansas
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A Long, Long Time Ago...
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Green-ampt Infiltration Parameters In Riparian Buffers
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Channel Aggradation By Beaver Dams On A Small Agricultural Stream In Eastern Nebraska
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Computer-based Tools For Decision Support In Agroforestry: Current State And Future Needs
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Hydrologic Routing Of Farm Runoff And Implications For Riparian Buffers
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Agroforestry And GIS: Achieving Land Productivity And Environmental Protection
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Integration Of Woody Buffers At Three Levels Of Spatial Scale In The Urban/rural Interface In Lincoln - Lancaster County, Nebraska
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The Fourth P: Planning For Multi-purpose Riparian Buffers
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Controlling Flooding And Water Pollution With Upland And Streamside Vegetation Systems
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CBD Technical Series No. 10 - Interlinkages Between Biological Diversity And Climate Change
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Assesment Of Concentrated Flow Through Riparian Buffers
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Agroforestry: Mapping The Way With GIS
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Setting Priorities For Research On Pollution Reduction Functions Of Agricultural Buffers
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Evaluation Of A Collaborative Model: A Case Study Analysis Of Watershed Planning In The Intermountain West
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Ecobelts: Reconnecting Agriculture And Communities
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Ecobelts: Reconnecting Agriculture And Communities - Case Studies
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Landscape Scale Planning For Conservation Buffers In The Corn Belt
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An Ecological Foundation For Temperate Agroforestry
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Planning For Multi-purpose Riparian Management
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Perspective: Agroforestry And Sustainability: Making A Patchwork Quilt
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(1999) Filter Strip Performance And Processes For Different Vegetation, Widths, And Contaminants
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Marketing Agroforestry Products
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Guide To USDA Agroforestry Research Funding Opportunities
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Inspirations For Creating A Long-Term Agricultural Lease For Agroforestry: A Workbook
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Buffers For Biomass Production In Temperate European Agriculture: A Review And Synthesis On Function, Ecosystem Services And Implementation
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Profitable Farms And Woodlands
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Topeka - Sustainable Development: Moving Toward A Greener Community
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Topeka: Urban/Rural Watershed Solutions
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RC & D Survey Of Agroforestry Practices
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Agroforestry In The United States: Research And Technology Transfer Needs For The Next Millenium
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Integrating Agroforestry Into USDA Programs
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Working Trees Coloring Book
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