Meristem: Beef Science

Moving towards a "whole land" management strategy for the entire landscape is the next step for livestock producers hoping to get more value from riparian areas and grasslands, say those on the front lines of riparian area studies.

When a group of researchers received Canada Alberta Beef Industry Development Fund (CABIDF) support six years ago to enhance the sustainability of riparian areas, the green strips of vegetation commonly found around rivers, creeks, streams and other water bodies, they faced a substantial challenge: helping people understand the benefits riparian areas present to water quality, cattle grazing and the environment in general.

However, that tide may be turning, with management tools developed through the project continuing to be popular among producers. The next step, says Barry Adams, co-lead researcher in the CABIDF project, is integrating riparian areas into a "whole land" management approach which treats the entire landscape as a single functioning unit.

"The reason we singled out riparian areas in the first place is because we wanted to communicate that these areas are unique, with different processes and functions from upland grasslands. But it's time to take things to the next level. We have come from a point of simply learning about riparian areas to actually applying that knowledge as quite a robust science."

Adds Gerry Ehlert, also a co-lead researcher in the project, "The plant communities which make up the landscape can be compared to the human body; parts of it we've known about for some time while other parts we're just beginning to understand. If we want to maintain human health as individuals and communities, we have to manage it on an integrated basis. Land management is no different."

The benefits of riparian areas are vast. Healthy riparian areas present a substantial value for the grazing of livestock, with their other key ecological functions including recharging aquifers, building and maintaining banks and shores, storing water, energy and carbon, filtering and buffering water and maintaining biodiversity.

"When you talk about forage production in the forest and grassland areas of the province, you talk in terms of pounds per acre," says Ehlert. "By comparison, healthy riparian areas have the potential to produce many tonnes of forage per acre and produce many other benefits to society and the environment."

Two important tools have been developed since the CABIDF project began in 2000: a health assessment field workbook for riparian areas in standing water systems such as lakes, sloughs and potholes; and a classification system to help identify the many different kinds of riparian areas found in the northern parkland and forests.

The former continues to be popular among farmers and other landowners while the latter is still actively used in riparian inventory and assessment. But the popularity of these tools alone does not tell the whole story behind the agricultural community's knowledge of riparian areas, says Adams.

"No livestock producer who has been to one of our workshops ever looks at a riparian area in the same way again. They get a chance to see the real value they bring to their operations."

The exodus of urban people to small rural acreages has also driven an interest in riparian area management. And from the recreational point of view of, for example, permanent and seasonal lakeshore residents, the interest has developed at more fundamental levels as well.

"Water quality and quantity issues have driven a lot of urban interest in riparian areas," says Norine Ambrose, project manager for Cows and Fish, one of the partners in the CABIDF project. "Although we still have a long way to go, it's encouraging to see urban centres working with the agricultural community to come to management solutions that are mutually beneficial to the environment and themselves."

For the full story, visit the Meristem Land & Science Web site at www.meristem.com. The development of new tools for riparian health was one of the projects supported by the $16.4 million Canada Alberta Beef Industry Development Fund (CABIDF), a partnership between the federal and provincial government dedicated to market-neutral industry development in the beef sector.

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Riparian area management moves towards 'whole land' strategy