Research & Development

Planning for Conservation Buffers
in the Corn-Belt Ecoregion

Project Description

Intensive agricultural production in the Western Corn-Belt Ecoregion has created an undesirable amount in water quality, wildlife, and other environmental amenities. Conservation buffers can help reverse this trend by establishing strips of perennial vegetation, which can improve the ecological functioning of the landscape.

The National Agroforestry Center is developing a planning framework to facilitate planning and designing conservation buffers for multiple objectives. This framework integrates regional, landscape, and site scale information using a question-based process.

This five-year project, funded by EPA, was started in August 1999. To learn more about the project, click on the links.

Funding for this effort is provided through cooperative agreements AG-02100251 with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and C R 826704-01-0 with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The results presented are the sole responsibility of the P.I. and may not represent the policies or positions of the ARS or EPA.

Atlas Website

The Midwest Regional Atlas for Conservation Planning is a planning tool being developed by the USDA National Agroforestry Center to assist stakeholders in the regional scale reconnaissance. The atlas is a compilation of assessment and resource maps collected from a variety of governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact Gary Bentrup.

Buffer$: A Conservation Buffer Economic Tool

This Microsoft Excel-based tool (right click to save) can be used to analyze cost-benefits of buffers compared to traditional crops. (File size=6.0 Mb, may take a while to download) To request a CD with the tool, please contact Gary Bentrup.

Resource Papers

Agroforestry: Mapping the way with GIS describes using geographic information systems (GIS) for identifying suitable locations for speciality products and was published in Journal of Soil and Water-December 2002. (File size=352 k)

This brief paper describes the question-based approach for planning and designing conservation buffers. (File size=848 k)

This brief paper describes the basic planning and tools used to develop and support the framework. (File size=1.9 Mb)

Western Corn-Belt Ecoregion

The Western Corn-belt Ecoregion is the study area for the USDA National Agroforestry Center's (NAC) Conservation Buffer Planning Porject. Combining ecoregion analysis work by the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Forest Service, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), NAC derived this approximate boundary. Factors that were used to define the boundary include soils, land use, climate, and vegetation. It is important to note that this is a rough approximate boundary defined specifically for this project.

Conservation Buffers

Conservation buffers are linear strips of perennial vegetation that modify ecological processes for desired goals and objectives. Protecting soil, improving air and water quality, enhancing fish and wildlife habitat, conserving biodiversity, and beautifying the landscape are some of the main benefits of conservation buffers. Examples of conservation buffers include riparian buffers, grass waterways, windbreaks, and filter strips.

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Last updated 12.19.2003.
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