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Chapter 7: Human Alterations to Riparian Areas
Introduction
- Humans have always used riparian areas. Examples include:
- The Egyptian civilization along the Nile River.
- Native Americans using riparian areas as transportation corridors, for water, food and shelter from the hot conditions in the Western U.S.
- The increasing population in the Southwest has led to a significant increase in the use of riparian areas impacting the quantity and quality of these areas.
- Many suggest that riparian areas are some of the most severely impacted ecosystems in the United States and Arizona.
- There are different types of human activities that have caused major alterations to riparian areas:
- Hydrologic and geomorphic,
- Agriculture,
- Urban, recreation and industry, and
- Other.
Figure 7.2. Different types of human activities that can cause alterations to riparian areas.
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