ABSTRACT
The rapid increase in river restoration efforts across the U.S. underscores the importance of rivers and streams as a multi-use natural resource. Bernhardt et al., 2005 estimates that between 39,000 to 43,000 river restoration projects have been undertaken in the United States with an average cost of over $380,000 per project, totaling approximately $16 billion dollars. All of these efforts are either placed within riparian ecosystems or indirectly affect these areas. The riparian ecosystem represents areas of transition between terrestrial and aquatic systems. They are three-dimensional spaces that extend “down into the groundwater, up above the canopy, outward across the floodplain, up the near slopes that drain to the water, laterally into the terrestrial ecosystem, and along the water course at a variable width” (Ilhardt et al., 2000). In semi-arid environments, they act as linear oases connected by vibrating strings of water (below and above the surface) that form, redistribute, and process the ingredients that make up the dynamic riparian ecosystem. While limited in area, they support and harbor a disproportionately large percentage of biodiversity in arid and semi-arid landscapes.
