Abstract
Riparian areas, especially in the Mediterranean, offer many ecosystem services for the welfare of society benefits from their sustainable management. This study presents different tools used to assess riparian areas of Greece and their results. Riparian areas with different land-uses/vegetation covers along streams or torrents were assessed. The assessment tools were visual protocols, bioindicators, geographic information systems (GIS), vegetation indices, and a model. These tools differ in scale, accuracy, and difficulty of implementation. The riparian areas had Low and Moderate quality in Greece because of agricultural activities and hydrologic alterations. Vegetation appeared more important for the integrity of riparian areas than stream flow (perennial or intermittent). In addition, territorial variables (distance from dam and sea) were more influential compared to climatic variables. Visual protocols and GIS were effective for preliminary assessments. GIS can be applied at a greater scale but was less accurate than the protocols. Bioindicators can provide more cost-effective monitoring than physicochemical water variables. Finally, vegetation indices and models can be used for larger spatial and temporal scales, but require specialized personnel. Overall, riparian areas of Greece seem to be degraded, and monitoring would contribute to the development of a database on riparian areas that should form the basis for sustainable management plans in Greece.
Highlights
The sustainable management of riparian areas has been brought to the forefront in the last 4–5 decades by researchers, land and water managers, as well as policy makers because of the many and important ecosystem services they offer for the welfare and development of society [1,2]
The zones of the riparian area that are closer to the terrestrial ecosystem retain characteristics of the terrestrial ecosystem, while as you get closer to the aquatic ecosystem many characteristics change and are more similar to those of the aquatic ecosystem
The results indicate that all three bioindicators used, have the potential to be scientifically sound tools for monitoring riparian areas and streams
Summary
The sustainable management of riparian areas has been brought to the forefront in the last 4–5 decades by researchers, land and water managers, as well as policy makers because of the many and important ecosystem services they offer for the welfare and development of society [1,2]. The services of these areas have been known for thousands of years to humans who have used them, which has led to their extensive degradation. The term “transition zone” can have two meanings; first, the zone between an aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem, and second in regard to the different characteristics of the riparian areas that transition as one moves from the aquatic to the terrestrial ecosystem
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