CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC | When it comes to stream health, land use and protection matter
I wanted to know how protection affects streams because most protected areas are not created specifically with streams in mind, says Dalal Hanna, a freshwater ecologist, science communicator, National Geographic Explorer, and PhD Candidate at McGill University.
Yet, protecting a stream and the land that surrounds it could have an important effect on that stream — and, subsequently, on the people and animals that interact with it. After all, streams are great places for recreation. In the area surrounding streams, called the riparian zone, we can go for peaceful walks or find delicious wild foods like elderberries, blueberries and Labrador tea. Riparian zones store carbon in vegetation and soil, preventing greenhouse gases from further heating the atmosphere. On top of all that, streams and their riparian zones provide habitat for numerous species that we care about.
When land isn’t protected, it tends to be converted to produce or extract resources, and I wanted to find out what would happen to our protected streams if they did undergo such changes.