An Index of Riparian Integrity for the Austin Area

In recent years, riparian condition has become an integral part of any comprehensive environmental monitoring program (Barbour et al 1999, Wissmar and Bechta 1998). The effect riparian zones have on aquatic systems is well documented (Correll 1999). Measuring riparian quantity and quality is a less developed area of study with a wide range of practices depending on study goals and resource availability. Methods to evaluate riparian systems generally fall into two categories: small area, high intensity field assessments and large area assessments using satellite imagery. Field studies provide detailed, species-level community analysis and require large labor investments per unit area. Assessments of riparian areas using satellite imagery tend to aggregate plant communities and look at large-scale (full river system) patterns with minimal investment of labor per unit area. Both methods require manual adjustment of geographic data based on best professional judgment and are difficult to reproduce for comparison purposes.