PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #8: Riparian Ecology.
Monday, August 6, 2001. Presentation from 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM. Exhibition Hall
Characterization of land use in riparian areas within the Contentnea watershed of North Carolina.
WRIGHT, CHRISTINA1, ALBERTY, STEPHEN2, 1 2
ABSTRACT- Legislation mandating riparian buffers for the improvement of surface water quality has become widespread throughout the United States. However, availability of data describing the current condition of riparian areas, particularly at a regional scale, is minimal. In response to this lack of data, many studies of riparian buffer systems rely upon regional databases to determine land use within legislated distances from local stream channels, with variable degrees of accuracy. To assess the accuracy of using regional databases for relatively small land areas, land use in riparian areas was characterized from the Multi Resolution Land Characterization (MRLC) database and from digital orthophotographs within a geographic information systems framework. The stream network within the Contentnea watershed was taken from the US-EPA Reach File 3 database. Analysis of land use/land cover within a standardized 30 meter riparian buffer and the MRLC database indicates the following land use categories: water (2.30%), commercial/residential (1.17%), bare ground (0.14%), forest/forested wetland (84.43%), and agricultural (11.96%). A riparian cover analysis tool was developed for digital orthophotograph analysis. Transects were established perpendicular to the Reach File 3 stream network at intervals of 200 m. Land use was recorded at points located 15 and 30 meters distant from the stream. Preliminary analyses of digital orthophotographs indicate the following land use categories: water (0.30%), commercial/residential (2.20%), bare ground (2.30%), forest/forested wetland (91.5%), and agricultural (3.70%).
KEY WORDS: riparian, digital orthophotograph, land use