Values and Benefits of a Buffer |
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A naturally vegetated buffer along lakes provide numerous benefits to people and the environment, from protection of the water quality and beauty that bring people to the lake, to the functioning of the lake as part of a healthy ecological landscape. |
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Value to People |
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Mown grass has shallow roots and cannot withstand the erosive forces of waves and high water.
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A naturally vegetated shore provides bank stability through a complex mix of root depths and patterns.
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Removing shore trees and shrubs exposes the adjacent shallow water to more sun and to increased sediment and phosphorus runoff. The increased light, warmer water and additional nutrients result in increased algae and nuisance plant growth in the immediate nearshore area.
In addition, a lake without, or with little, buffering vegetation will experience an overall increase in phosphorus concentration, meaning more algae growth everywhere and less water clarity. |
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People generally agree that shoreland vegetation
increases the beauty of a lake.
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Summer resident Canada goose populations can be a messy problem for lakeshore residents. A brushy shore will discourage them from getting out on your property; they only like to get out where they can see an easy way back into the lake. |
Value to lake ecology |
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Fallen trees and branches, known as "woody debris," and leaf litter form important habitat structure for insects to live on, small fish to hide in and feed on, and larger carnivorous fish to patrol the edges of. A silty or muddy bottom offers little diversity to support the variety of organisms found in shallow water. |
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Rocky cobbly areas also provide hiding places and many surfaces for aquatic insects and other animals to feed and live on. If the spaces between the rocks get filled in with eroded soil from adjacent land uses, the habitat quality becomes degraded. |
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Trees hanging over the water shade the shallows keeping them cool, and insects that fall off the branches are good fish food. |
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Generally in the shallows adjacent to a wooded shore, aquatic plant growth is not as dense as those nearshore areas where clearing has brought in more light and nutrients. Plants are important shallow water habitat structure similar to woody debris.
The plant bed at left offers shelter and feeding spots to small fish. |
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Frogs, crayfish and many other smaller animals depend on being able to hide in vegetation or under rocks in shallow water. |
 
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Nymphs, the aquatic phase of flying insects such as dragonflies, mayflies, damselflies and craneflies, live in protected spaces among the woody and leafy debris in shallow water. They need to be able to crawl out onto emergent plants or shore vegetation to shed their exoskeleton and emerge as flying adults.
Dragonflies and other flying insect eaters consume thousands of mosquitos! |
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A wooded shore provides terrestrial habitat for the myriad of bird and mammal species that live or feed near water. Many aquatic species spend some life stage in the duff layer of the shore, including the weevil known to feed on Eurasian watermilfoil.
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Water Quality Division 
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