Mississippi

A team of researchers led by scientists from the Stroud Water Research Center in Avondale, Pennsylvania, has discovered that streamside (or riparian) forests play a critical - and previously unacknowledged - role in protecting the world's fresh water. Their findings have significant implications for a world that is facing a huge and growing freshwater crisis, in which 20 percent of the world population lacks access to clean drinking water and more than 2.2 million people die each year from diseases transmitted by contaminated drinking water and poor sanitation.

"Policies aimed at providing sufficient and clean fresh water have historically focused on massive and expensive engineering projects, such as dams and filtration plants," said scientist Bernard Sweeney of the Stroud Center and lead author of the paper. "In doing so, they have often overlooked the substantial benefits that natural ecosystems provide. Perhaps nowhere is that value more evident than in streams and rivers, where hundreds of trillions of tiny organisms work constantly to clean the water," said Sweeney.

For some time, scientists and policy makers have recognized the role that riparian forests play in filtering pollutants before they enter the stream. This new research shows that such forests also play a vital role in protecting the health of the stream itself by enhancing the ability of its ecosystem to process organic matter and pollutants such as nitrogen.

• Specialized financing
• Multiple Vendors
• Personal Service
• Wholesale Discounts