Riparian

=Riparian =

Riparian zones are the green areas on each side of a stream or river that surrounds the bodies of water and are composed of damp or saturated soils. These biomes include plants that love water and are able to grow in little soil, other species of plants, and certain types of animals. Wetlands may also be called riparian zones. Riparian zones connect land with water. Riparian’s also help to reduce flooding and lots of unnecessary damage.Riparian’s are found in a couple of places including Oklahoma ,Phoenix, Chicago, Arizona, Michigan ,Colorado, and in the USA; they are also some found in the Southwest.

Animals who live in a Riparian Zones.
 Some of the animals that live in a Riparian ecosystem are the Barred owl, the Long Toed Salamander, Hooded Merganser, the Painted Turtle, the Raccoon, Deer, Trout and Frogs.



· The Barred Owls adapts to the Riparian environment by nesting in the trees next to the rivers found there.




 * · The Long-Toed Salamanders usually live in the shadows of a Riparian environment (e.g. under a log or rock.) and travel at night.



· The Hooded Mergansers live in trees and is part of the duck family.




 * · The Painted Turtles live in the mud or sand underwater. They can absorb the oxygen that the water contains.



 · Raccoons live near rivers and are scavengers.These animals all live around grassland like environments that allow them to survive individually in a predator or prey area.

=Citations: = [|Animals that live in a Riparian Biome] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|What are Riparian zones?]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Flora Found in Riparian Zones
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are many different types of flora in the Riparian zones because of its complex design. There are two levels to the riparian zone. The first is the active channel which experiences frequent floods and the second is the floodplain has less floods. The plants in these levels have slightly different adaptions to survive its environment.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the active channel, the plants have adventitious roots that can withstand extreme environmental conditions. This adaption is very helpful during the winter when floods are regular and resourceful when it has to quickly tap into the water table and follow the water levels in the summer. These plants are limited because not many plants can weather the conditions in the active channels. Some examples of these plants are Black Cottonwood, Rushes, Red Alder, and Stream Dogwood. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the floodplains where the floods are less frequent, the plants are less adapted to flood endurance and they require less water that plants in the active channel because they are smaller. Floodplains have many different species because there are substantial structure like the canopy layer, the shrub layer, vine layer and herb layer that altogether contains a complex variety of plants. These plants tend to grow in abundance because the conditions of this area is not as hard as the active channel. Some of these plants are: California Wild Rose, Creambush, Honeysuckle, and Western Azalea.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Source Cited: Salmonid Habitat Restoration Planning Resource http://www.cfses.org/salmonid/html/water/plants.htm