Application of riparian buffer zone in agricultural non-point source pollution control—A review

Abstract

Water is an important natural element of our environment, and its management and security are also serious concerns. Agricultural non-point source pollution (NPSP) is one of the major sources of contaminants causing water quality degradation. A riparian buffer zone is a vegetative cover adjacent to water channels that positively contributes to pollutant filtration and sediment trapping. It has the potential to filter nutrients, reduce nutrients and pesticide leakage, provide habitat and protection against floods, minimize erosion issues, improve biodiversity and ecological connectivity, and add aesthetics to the area. Moreover, it is inexpensive and requires little maintenance making buffer zone an attractive approach to NPSP control. In this review, we have enlightened the effects of the riparian buffer zone on water quality and agricultural NPSP and how its structures and mechanisms contribute to controlling water pollution effectively. We conclude that the riparian buffer zone is an effective technique for water safety, NPSP control, and creating a suitable environment for terrestrial and aquatic species. Moreover, it has the potential to reduce the water temperature due to the shading effect and sustain water habitat acting as a climate adaptation tools. Buffer zones should be adopted for agricultural non-point source pollution and achieve environmental sustainability. However, the long-term influence of the riparian buffer zone on trapping NPS pollutants, soil properties, and groundwater quality is s research gap.

Effect of Grass Buffer Strips on Nitrogen and Phosphorus Removal from Paddy Runoff and Its Optimum Widths

“…The inflow concentration coupled with GBS width also significantly affected the interception of TN and NH 4 + -N (p < 0.05), while it did not reach the significant level for the interception rate of TP (p < 0.05). The ability of runoff pollutants to be removed by GBSs is not only related to inflow concentration but also closely related to the form of the pollutant [14]. Nitrogen in runoff simulated in this study exists in the dissolved state.…”

“…Based on previous studies on the characteristics of rain runoff pollution in paddy fields, two concentrations of runoff were identified, denoted as high concentration and low concentration [14,22,23]. TN concentration was 7 mg/L and 12 mg/L, NH4 + -N was 5 mg/L and 9 mg/L, NO 3 − -N was 2 mg/L and 3 mg/L, and TP was 0.4 mg/L and 0.8 mg/L.…”

“…The inflow volume can affect the pollutant removal efficiency of GBSs by affecting the passing time of runoff through the GBS [14,16]. Based on the ANOVA analysis, the inflow volume and the GBS widths were taken as the main influencing factors to analyze their effect on the contamination removal rate.…”

“…The ability of vegetation buffer strips to mitigate pollutants is influenced by several factors, such as buffer strip width, inflow contaminant concentration, inflow velocity, etc. [14][15][16][17]. Bu et al [18] confirmed that the hybrid vegetation buffer zone could intercept 74.4-86.3% of silt, 54.5-68.1% of TN, and 62.3-77.5% of TP.…”

“…A vegetative buffer strip is an ecological engineering measure that has been proven to effectively alleviate water pollution in protected areas by preventing the migration and transport of pollutants through the synergistic action of vegetation, microorganisms, and soil [12][13][14]. The ability of vegetation buffer strips to mitigate pollutants is influenced by several factors, such as buffer strip width, inflow contaminant concentration, inflow velocity, etc.…”