Riparian catchments: A landscape approach to link uplands with riparian zones for agricultural and ecosystem conservation

V egetated riparian buffers can trap and treat pollutants in runoff from agricultural uplands, thereby protecting stream water quality and the integrity of aquatic systems (Liu et al. 2008; Dosskey et al. 2010). The effectiveness of a buffer in achieving these goals depends on buffer design, buffer extent (i.e., stream length occupied), distributions of hydrologic flows through the buffer in time and space, and the conservation management of upslope agricultural lands. Soil survey and topographic data can be used to prioritize buffer implementation, and to design buffers that effectively intercept surface and/or subsurface flow paths according to landscape characteristics (Tomer et al. 2015; Schultz et al. 2009). However, buffer effectiveness can be enhanced through conservation management of agricultural uplands, using (as examples) zero/zonal tillage, field borders, and/or contour buffers, practices that can attenuate peak runoff flows that may bypass buffer vegetation (Dabney et al. 2006). In other words, riparian buffer performance depends on the use of upland practices that can effectively reduce erosion and slow or detain runoff from uplands. Benefits of integrated strategies for co-managing upland and riparian systems at watershed scale have been discussed, but no framework has been suggested to enable full landscape planning to be undertaken in…