• DOI:10.2134/JEQ1994.00472425002300050004X
• Corpus ID: 93532444

Wetland and Stream Buffer Size Requirements-A Review.

@article{Castelle1994WetlandAS,
  title={Wetland and Stream Buffer Size Requirements-A Review.},
  author={Andrew J. Castelle and A. W. Johnson and Catherine Conolly},
  journal={Journal of environmental quality},
  year={1994},
  volume={23 5},
  pages={
          878-882
        }
}

• A. J. Castelle, A. W. Johnson, C. Conolly
• Published 1 September 1994
• Environmental Science
• Journal of environmental quality

Upland vegetated buffers are widely regarded as being necessary to protect wetlands, streams, and other aquatic resources. Buffer size requirements, however, have typically been established by political acceptability, not scientific merit. This often leads to insufficiently buffered aquatic resources. In order to assist public agencies in formulating appropriate buffer standards, we conducted a literature search of the scientific functions of buffers. The literature search reconfirmed the need for buffers and emphasized the importance of considering specific buffer functions. A range of buffer widths from 3 m to 200 m was found to be effective, depending on site-specific conditions; a buffer of at least 15 m was found to be necessary to protect wetlands and streams under most conditions.