1. Pan-European Assessment of Riparian Zones
Analysis of spatial changes in biodiversity and green infrastructure

2. Why Riparian Zones?
Riparian Zones as a continuum along water streams comprising Riparian Areas - RA, which are natural environments, and Streamside Managed Zones – SMZs, which are non natural areas (cultivated, built...), both providing a range of ecological and social services:
Maintaining biodiversity by providing productive natural habitats
Increasing landscape connectivity: highly permeable matrix within the ‘green network’
Providing buffering of nutrients and contaminants
Stabilizing banks and controlling stream flows

3. Objective: Creation of a database using Remote Sensing and GIS to map and assess the Riparian Zones for continental Europe
Environmental assessment (based on mapping activities)
Characterization of Riparian Areas and Streamside Management Zones. Statistics on LandCover, habitat class, PAs, RAs productivity parameters (MODIS), vegetation type
Trend (change) dynamics: analysis
Connectivity of Riparian Areas in the context of the Green Network
Ecosystem services: e.g. RA and SMZ buffering capacity, biodiversity services

4. Challenges to face using a Remote Sensing approach
Mapping RAs does not mean to map one ecosystem type. RAs are Ecotones (transitional environments) -> high spectral variations from local to regional scale
RAs in Europe are generally of small extension -> Need of a trade-off between high resolution data and the continental extension (Europe)
RAs boundaries are often unclear also on the ground: need of additional criteria to delineate RAs and SMZs when boundaries are not identifiable (e.g. buffering distance from scientific literature)
Herbaceous dominated, Boreal
Shrub dominated, Mediterranean
Coniferous dominated, Alpine

5. Generation of the Riparian Zones dataset (Europe)
Methodology should be: (1) cost effective, (2) use well consolidated and validated GIS and RS data, (3) easily improvable in the future
Water boundary definition: Development of algorithms for the integration of different vector and raster water datasets (CCM2 , TM-derived 25 m water layer, CLC and EHG DB)
RAs and SMZs definition: Multiranking system to discriminate RAs and SMZs
Ranking within informative layers:
Spectral Ruled Classification of I2000 Mosaic (25 m, JRC)
JRC Forest Mask (25 m): Forest/Non forest
CLC (25 ha mmu): Natural / Non natural Land Cover types
Path Distance Index & Slope: geomorphological breaks (mountain areas: valleys) areas, calibrated on hi-res images (GoogleEarth, QB)
Use of buffer distances when information is not available
Double Stratification
Based on Mountain/Plain Areas
Based on Land cover whith a Forested/non Forested potential climax

6. Results example (Ticino river, Italy)
RAs probability distribution patterns
The model considers a RA an area:
Contiguous to a surface water stream
Natural environment
With presence of vegetation
Forested, if potential climax is forest
Within a geomorphological break, if the area is not plain
SMZs are the areas inside the buffer AND not RAs
Final aggregation model considers the multiranking evaluation
Validation:
- High resolution Images (QB/Ikonos, GoogleEarth),
- Validation limited to clear RAs boundaries
Results example (Ticino river, Italy)