Evaluating the Relationships between Riparian Land Cover Characteristics and Biological Integrity of Streams Using Random Forest Algorithms

Se-Rin Park, Suyeon Kim and Sang-Woo Lee
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Se-Rin Park: Graduate Program, Department of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, Konkuk University, Gwangjin-Gu, Seoul 05029, Korea
Suyeon Kim: Graduate Program, Department of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, Konkuk University, Gwangjin-Gu, Seoul 05029, Korea
Sang-Woo Lee: Department of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, Konkuk University, Gwangjin-Gu, Seoul 05029, Korea

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 6, 1-14

Abstract: The relationships between land cover characteristics in riparian areas and the biological integrity of rivers and streams are critical in riparian area management decision-making. This study aims to evaluate such relationships using the Trophic Diatom Index (TDI), Benthic Macroinvertebrate Index (BMI), Fish Assessment Index (FAI), and random forest regression, which can capture nonlinear and complex relationships with limited training datasets. Our results indicate that the proportions of land cover types in riparian areas, including urban, agricultural, and forested areas, have greater impacts on the biological communities in streams than those offered by land cover spatial patterns. The proportion of forests in riparian areas has the greatest influence on the biological integrity of streams. Partial dependence plots indicate that the biological integrity of streams gradually improves until the proportion of riparian forest areas reach about 60%; it rapidly decreases until riparian urban areas reach 25%, and declines significantly when the riparian agricultural area ranges from 20% to 40%. Overall, this study highlights the importance of riparian forests in the planning, restoration, and management of streams, and suggests that partial dependence plots may serve to provide insightful quantitative criteria for defining specific objectives that managers and decision-makers can use to improve stream conditions.

Keywords: riparian land cover; spatial pattern; biological indicator; random forest; threshold analysis; South Korea (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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