Riparian habitat assessment
Riparian habitat assessment
Type
Hydromorphological assessment methods
Brief description
Riparian habitat assessment methods aim to identify, survey and assess riparian habitat conditions of rivers and streams. They are mainly applied at a local/reach scale, and generally to the overall river corridor, but focussing on vegetation characteristics. We reviewed 14 methods in total (5 for European countries and 9 for non-European countries).
Strengths, limitations and gaps
Methods of riparian habitat assessment adopt a similar approach to river habitat assessment, but focusing on the riparian component. They generally suffer the same limitations as for the habitat assessment (limited spatial and temporal scale, poor understanding of physical processes, etc.) but they successfully integrate vegetation in the assessment of river status. These methods have been developed mainly in southern European countries; they need validation and/or adaptation to be applied in other countries.
Rivertypes
Related Pressures
Related Measures
- No measures apply to this tool.
Related Hymo quality elements
- River continuity (Class: River continuity)
- Structure of the riparian zone (Class: Morphological conditions)
- Structure of the floodplain (Class: Morphological conditions)
Related Biological quality elements
- No Biological Quality Elements apply to this tool.
Related Ecosystem goods and services
- No Ecosystem goods and services apply to this tool.
