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An Agroforestry Project: Sustainable Tree-Shrub-Grass Buffer Strips

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An Agroforestry Project: Sustainable Tree-Shrub-Grass Buffer Strips Volume 78 Article 5 1-1-1991 An Agroforestry Project: Sustainable Tree-Shrub- Grass Buffer Strips Along Waterways Richard Schultz Iowa State University Joe Colletti Iowa State University Carl Mize Iowa State University Andy Skadberg Iowa State University Bruce Menzel Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/amesforester Part of the Forest Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Schultz, Richard; Colletti, Joe; Mize, Carl; Skadberg, Andy; and Menzel, Bruce (1991) "An Agroforestry Project: Sustainable Tree- Shrub-Grass Buffer Strips Along Waterways," Ames Forester: Vol. 78 , Article 5. Available at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/amesforester/vol78/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Ames Forester by an authorized editor of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AN AGROFORESTRY PROJECT: susTAINABLE TREE-SHFIUB-GRASS BUFFEFI STRIPS ALONG WATERWAYS BY F]lCHAF]D SCHULTZ, JOE COLLETTl, CAFZL MIZE, ANDY SKADBEFIG, AND BFIUCE MENZEL Introduction the streambank, the aquatic ecosystem, and for providing wildlife habitat for terrestrial Iowa is a mosaic landscape of agricultural animals. crops, pasture lands, native woodlands. prai- rie remnants, wetlands, and a network of A cooperative project on a private farm was streams and rivers. With settlement and the started in the spring of 1990. An interdiscipli- increased mecha- naryteam fromthe nization of agricul- Departments of ture, many natural Forestry, a as ` sgffi se.>< isee`s±gg // //,i/// i/// i/ // // //////i1/,,,,,74,i,,;,,#,// ,z/ /// Agronomy, Geol- woodland corri- `x,`,`/`se*/a <.*ng ng`'` -i- dors along these `asJz '3¥sezl , ` i ogy and Atmo- i // /// streams and rivers spheric Sciences, i$3& and Animal Ecol- were removed. ``z`as,se:xtx:"z/7Zy///`^assse Present farming ogy at Iowa State :.,=.:`.:,` practices have re- -+;asREl'`:*` -``' fu .., `>..RTRE University have sulted in: in- established a ri- creased loss of parian buffer strip soils, which dimin- located on the Ro- ishes soil fenility, nald Risdalfarmon es,: and increased use Bear Creek nonh of agri-chemicals, of Ftoland, Iowa. which threatens the quality of water. Today's The site was intensively grazed and used for concerns about soil loss and ground and many years as a tractor access to nearby surface water contamination must be ad- fields. Flow crops were planted close to the dressed by both the agricultural and non- creek along about 1/4 of its length and within agricultural communities of our state. 1 to 3 chains along the rest. The project includesfast-growing bottomland hardwoods, Tree, shrub, and grass covered llriparian" highquality hardwoods, aswell asshrubs and buffer strips can contribute to sustainable switchgrass. agriculture by reducing soil loss, improving waterquality, and stabilizing the banks of the Iowa Agriculture and Non-point Source drainage system. The riparian zone is land Pollution that borders the banks of streams or lakes where vegetative communities consist of Although governmental action to reduce point plantsthat have root systems in close proxim- sourcewaterpollution hasalong history inthe ity to the watertable. Such communities may United States, The Federal Water Pollution consume substantial amounts of water, but Control Act (PL 92-50O) of 1972 was the first more importantly are necessaryforprotecting national legislation to recognize the problem 1991 Ames Forester of non-point source (NPS) pollution. The act water systems. had two primary goals: 1 ) to maintain surface water quality sufficient to support specific The Iowa landscape is dynamically uses such as drinking, general recreation, imbalanced because of the loss of diverse, and fishing, and 2) to restore and maintain the non-agricultural ecosystems - forests, prai- physical, chemical, and biological integrity of ries, and wetlands. For example, lowa's waterways. The approach to NPS pollution forest cover has been reduced from about reduction has been to develop Best Manage- 19o/o ofthe state to 4%, and native prairie and ment Practices (BMP's) on watershedswhere wetlands have been reduced by over 99o/o there is substantial potential for movement of (ThomsonandHertel,1981 ;Smith,1981 ;and pollutants to drainageways. Until recently, Bishop,1981). These losses result in a re- recommended BMP'sforagricultural landhave duction in the assimilation capability of the chiefly involved application of soil erosion landscape, and a loss of wildlife habitat. By control treatments, e.g. terracing, grass wa- reintroducing ecosystems of permanent terways, and minimum tillage. Actual experi- vegetation in sensitive locations on the land- ence with such BMP's, however, has shown scape, soil losses will be reduced and envi- that they are rarely adequate to deal with the ronmental conditions improvedo The intro- pervasiveoverlandandsubsurface movement duction of diverse buffer strips along many of agricultural poIIutants. Substantial quanti- streams using fast-growing trees, shrubs, and ties ofsediment andchemicals still maketheir perennial crops would reintroduce some of way into the bottomlands along creeks, these dynamic interactions while producing streams, ponds, and lakes. These problems profitable alternative crops for farmers. The are fuhher aggravated when modern, typical potential environmental benefitsofbufferstrips Iowa row crop farming is practiced down to are to keep surface sediments on the site the edge of creeks and waterways. where they are generated, to improve water quality by filtering out the nutrients and lt is now clear that innovative approaches chemicals associated with agricultural pro- mustbedevisedto reduce movementofthese duction, to increase streambank stability and pollutants (soil and agricultural chemicals - improvethe in-stream environment, to provide nitrogen and pesticides) into waterways. wildlife habitat, to provide carbon storage to Moreover, these new approaches must be reduce greenhouse warming, and to provide implemented on awatershed scaleto achieve alternative income for the landowner. significant improvements in water quality. Tree, Shrub, and Grass Buffer Strips as Iowa agriculture can be characterized as BMP's for the Riparian Zone fence-row-to-fence-row, highly mechanized, and chemically dependent (Jensen,1988). The riparian zone of a stream is the last area Continued production may lead to reduced forintercepting and processing up-hill materi- soil productivityand surface andgroundwater als produced by agricultural practices before quality because of soil erosion and percola- they enter the stream (see figure 1 ). One of tion of chemicals. Soil and farm chemical the best management techniques for the ri- movement from agricultural fields has re- parian zone is to maintain a continuous cover sulted in environmental problems that need crop that has an extensive and dynamic root immediate attentl'on. To maintain a sustain- system. Such asystem iscapable ofprocess- able agricultural system, erosion losses must ing large quantities of water and associated be reduced on-site, and losses that inadvert- agricultural chemicals, while also trapping entlyoccur must be stopped beforethey enter sediments moving from adjacent crop fields. 15 Trees and grasses, often the natural ecosys- or burned. Compared with annual crops, this tem that was cleared from the riparian zone, carbon storage is long term. Such long-term provide such a crop. Fast-growing trees can storage reduces carbon dioxide in the air, be managed to provide the benefits of a thus reducing the greenhouse effect. When permanent covercrop while also providing an the trees are utilized for energy through gas- economically sustained yield of biomass for ification, combustion, or use in a processed energy production or h-lgh quality timber, if liquid form, the carbon dioxide that is addedto species such as walnut and oak are included. the atmosphere is not carbon that has been in extremely long-term storage, as is the case Tree buffer strips improve the in-Stream envi- with fossil fuels (e.g., coal and oil). Also, the ronment and provide wildlife habitat, as well released carbon dioxide is quickly removed as an aesthetically pleasing diversity in the from the air by the resprouting shoots. Thus, landscape (Kennedy,1977). Whereas tree a 6tbalanced," closed cycle of carbon genera- buffer strips process surface and subsurface tion and use is established. water and associated chemicals, they also stabilize stream banks that otherwise con- Integrating Short-Rotation Woody Crops tinually erode into highly productivecropfields. into a Buffer Str'lp Agroforestry System Trees are able to reduce the rate Of Stream bankcollapse because theirpermanent roots Agroforestry, the practice Of integrating trees extend into the soil, and their stems provide with agricultural crops and livestock in space increasedfrictional surface during flood flows. and time, has been used in tropical countries Additionally, trees reduce in-Stream Sediment for decades. Growing trees in conjunction load and water temperatures while providing with agricultural crops and livestock can di- organicdebristhatis afood sourceforbenthic versify farm income by producing a wider organisms (Swanson et al., 1982). range of market and non-market products from the same land unit and aid in soil and Mixtures of trees, shrubs, and grasses Pro- waterconservation (Betters,1988).
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