The riparian zone quality index: a tool for monitoring environmental regulations and raising awareness
In Quebec, due to climate change, the provincial government established a Policy for the Protection of Shorelines, Littoral Zones, and Floodplains in 1987. This policy requires municipalities to regulate riparian buffer zones protecting lakes and watercourses within their territory. Thus, in 2007, t...
Kaydedildi:
| Yayımlandı: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/vertigo, |
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| Yazar: | |
| Materyal Türü: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Dil: | Anglais |
| Baskı/Yayın Bilgisi: |
VertigO
2026
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| Konular: | |
| Online Erişim: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Özet: | In Quebec, due to climate change, the provincial government established a Policy for the Protection of Shorelines, Littoral Zones, and Floodplains in 1987. This policy requires municipalities to regulate riparian buffer zones protecting lakes and watercourses within their territory. Thus, in 2007, the municipality of Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez implemented its own regulatory framework. Municipalities have very few tools to monitor changes in riparian buffer zones within their territory. Although various assessment methods exist to characterize riparian zones, these approaches generally only allow for a visual determination of their condition, without providing a basis for classification. The use of the Riparian Buffer Quality Index (RBQI), developed by St Jacques and Richard for the Quebec Ministry of the Environment, allows for a semi-quantitative estimation and classification of shorelines according to their ecological role in the transition between aquatic and terrestrial environments. This is why we used this tool to determine whether regulations had an impact on improving the shoreline buffer of Lac des Pins between 2007 and 2023. Comparing the IQBR results between the two years revealed a significant improvement in the lake's riparian buffer zones. Furthermore, these results have encouraged shoreline landowners to improve the ecological quality of their own riparian buffer zones. |
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