ABSTRACT

Managing lands to maintain or improve the health of the soil is increasingly important to meet the demands for food, fuel, feed and fibre while maintaining environmental quality. Improved management practices to manage soils, enhance biodiversity and improve the quality of the environment warrant further discussion. Conservation buffers are one of the ecological management practice to manage soil, water and nutrients in agricultural lands (Fig. 1; Blanco-Canqui et al., 2004; Christen and Dalgaard, 2013; Gill et al., 2014; Cole et al., 2015). These buffers consist of permanent herbaceous or woody vegetation strips established within or around croplands for soil and water conservation and management (Blanco-Canqui et al., 2004; Dabney et al., 2006). Conservation buffers include grass hedges, vegetative filter strips, riparian buffers, windbreaks and grassed waterways, among others.