COMPARING THE OVERALL WIDTH AND WATER QUALITY OF THE RIPARIAN HABITAT BETWEEN SITES

The streams are natural freshwater environments deposits of nutrients for many organisms.  Natural environments like streams can be affected by numerous factors, as an example excessive use of soil and fertilizers.  Streams can recover itself by natural remediation, such the use of vegetation like buffers in the riparian zone.  The riparian zone is transitional areas between water bodies and upland communities (Décamps et. al, 2009).  For this research we utilize the database of EPSCoR Streams Project, which is located in Vermont, to know if there is a relationship between the riparian zone width of some streams sites with the quantity of total suspended solids (TSS), and total phosphorus (TP) that are in the water column.  The objective is to determine if there is an association between riparian zone and water quality.  In the research will be using EPSCoR Streams Project database.  The data used comprehended from 2008-2011 which is part of the undergraduate summer research internship.  The vegetation types tell us how much TSS and TP can be removed from the wetlands (Mankin et. al, 2007).  Knowing the relationship of the riparian zone width with the water quality in each stream site can help to identify some factor that can affect directly the Lake Champlain and his community in Vermont.