How are riparian buffer zones around Swedish headwaters implemented? : a case study

• Main Author: Jonsson, Anna
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English; Swedish
• Published: SLU/Dept. of Forest Ecology and Management 2018
• Subjects: riparian buffer zones; Sweden; small streams; forestry; skyddszoner; Sverige; små bäckar; skogsbruk; Deadwood; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/13353/

Riparian zones are the transition zones between aquatic and terrestrial environments. They perform numerous important ecological functions. To protect these functions, keeping riparian buffer zones when performing forestry operations around streams is a commonly used practice. In this case study, I investigated how riparian buffer zones around 119 headwaters in northern and southern Sweden are implemented using Rapid Assessment Survey (RAS). I found that 11 % of streams had < 0.1 m wide buffer, 58 % had a buffer 0.1-5 m width, 26 % hade a buffer 5-15 m wide, and 5 % had a buffer wider than 15 m. Northern sites had significantly wider buffers than southern sites. Further, results indicated that neither size of the stream nor size of the clear-cut area influence which buffer width a stream would get. Tree type (coniferous/deciduous) composition of mature trees and saplings of retained buffers differed among buffer width categories and between southern and northern Sweden, and was to some degree a result of the forestry operations within buffers (selective logging). The results also supports that number of deadwood in the stream and shading of the stream are increasing, while the magnitude of impairments connected to forest operations are decreasing, with increasing buffer width. Knowledge of how Swedish headwaters are treated during forest operations, as demonstrated in this study, could help in assessing local effects on small streams due to forest operations as well as cumulative downstream effects on downstream reaches. Den bäcknära zonen är övergångsområden mellan vatten- och landmiljö och den är värd för flera viktiga ekologiska funktioner. För att skydda dessa funktioner är det vanligt att lämna buffertzoner, remsor av träd vid vattendrag när skogsbruksåtgärder utförs. I denna fallstudie undersökte jag hur buffertzoner runt 119 små bäckar i norra och södra Sverige implementeras. Detta gjordes med hjälp av snabb utvärderings metod (RAS). Jag fann att, 11 % av bäckarna hade en buffertzon på <0.1 m, 58 ...