Riparian buffers: Disrupting the transport of E. coli from rural catchments to streams.
Water Res
; 222: 118897, 2022 Aug 15.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35932702
ABSTRACT
High levels of E. coli and associated faecal microbes in waterways as a result of agricultural and residential land use can pose environmental, human health, and economic risks. This study aims to understand the impacts of land use, climatic variables, and riparian buffers on in-stream E. coli concentrations. Flow, temperature, and E. coli were monitored during three sampling campaigns within eleven independent catchments. These catchments have varying land use and extents of riparian buffer coverage. Results showed that catchments with predominantly agricultural and residential land uses (average = 349.7 MPN/100 mL) had higher E. coli concentrations than predominantly forested catchments (average = 111.8 MPN/100 mL). However, there were no statistically significant differences in E. coli concentrations between the agricultural and residential land uses. Riparian buffers appear to reduce E. coli concentrations in streams, as indicated by significant negative correlations between in-stream E. coli concentrations with the riparian buffer areal coverage (Pearson's r = -0.95, Spearman's ρ = -0.90) and the ratio of buffer length to stream length (Pearson's r = -0.87, Spearman's ρ = -0.90). We find that riparian buffers potentially disrupt transport pathways that govern E. coli movement, which in-turn can affect the concentration-discharge relationship. This reinforces the importance of protecting and restoring riparian buffers along drainage lines in agricultural and rural-residential catchments to improve downstream microbial water quality.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Trees
/
Water Pollution
/
Rivers
/
Agriculture
/
Escherichia coli
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Water Res
Year:
2022
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Australia