This Leopold Center research team studied riparian buffer systems and operated the highly successful, award-winning Bear Creek Watershed Demonstration Project from 1990 to 2002. The research team worked with landowners in the Bear Creek watershed to install riparian buffers along the banks of the creek. These buffers help to reduce erosion, nitrate runoff, and improve wildlife habitat. Research in the watershed continues with additional funding from the Leopold Center and other sources.
Team members included farmer/landowner cooperators, Iowa State University scientists, and professionals from state and federal agencies and non-governmental organizations. The team was led by Bruce W. Menzel and Richard C. Schultz of Iowa State University.
The goals of the Agroecology Research Team:
- to assess the impacts of agricultural practices on the structure and function of regional agroecosystems
- to design and test small-scale agricultural landscape management systems that can lessen negative environmental impacts of agriculture and enhance natural ecosystem function
- to develop a holistic approach for reconstruction and/or restoration and management of regional agroecosystems that are environmentally sound, socially acceptable and economically feasible
This Funding Impact Brief outlines the impact of Leopold Center support for this research.
View these photos on Facebook taken during a June 2015 tour of Bear Creek.
Research team resources
- Videos about the Bear Creek project - May 2011
- Stewards of our Streams: Assessing the Need for a Riparian Management System [PDF] September 2002
- Stewards of our Streams: Buffer Strip Design, Establishment and Maintenance [PDF] April 1997
- Stewards of our Streams: Maintenance of Riparian Buffers [PDF] March 2002
- Poster: Lessons Learned from Bear Creek [PDF] Spring 2002