Riparian Forests: Longitudinal Biodiversity Islands in Agricultural Landscapes

Riparian buffers safeguard the only remaining forest fragments in many agricultural landscapes of the Colombian Andean region. These linear landscape elements contribute to the conservation of terrestrial biodiversity in agricultural landscapes by providing shelter, reproduction sites, food, and connectivity for arthropods, amphibians, mammals and birds. Thus, riparian buffers play a critical role as biodiversity islands. In addition, forested riparian buffers protect aquatic environments and water quality by reducing the input of pollutants from catchment areas, improving physical habitat with shade, and adding allochthonous materials that provide the main source of energy for stream ecosystems. This chapter summarizes the results of research conducted during the past two decades by the Center for Research in Sustainable Agricultural Systems (CIPAV) in the Central Andes coffee-growing region of Colombia. These studies highlight the critical role of forested riparian buffers for conservation and ecosystem services. We provide a synthesis of lessons learned on the effects of both cattle grazing and riparian forest cover on stream ecosystems. This body of research also demonstrates that streams protected by riparian forests support complex and biodiverse macroinvertebrate assemblages and may respond positively to the ecological restoration of riparian strips. The chapter concludes with recommendations for restoring and protecting riparian buffers from agricultural practices, partially through incentives to landowners. These insights have emerged from decades of research and institutional experience on riparian restoration initiatives.