Effects of habitat alterations on riparian plant and animal communities in Iowa

Louis B. Best

A study was conducted throughout Iowa on what effects of short reach stream channelization have on land use practices. This document reports on the part of the study covering those affected land practices on riparian plant and animal communities, which was carried out only in Guthrie County, where 47 vegetation community types were identified at 28 sites. Changes in land use were relatively minor with small declines in herbaceous fields and pastures and increases in cultivated crops. Bird and small mammal use of riparian land was closely correlated to the availability of forest and woodlands. The number of birds increased with increasing availability of timber. Small mammal populations tended to decrease as herbaceous cover declined and woodlands increased.