National forests and water strategy has
brought focus to the establishment of riparian buffers to
protect the river environment. The riparian area is that
area of land located immediately adjacent to rivers,
streams and lakes. Riparianbuffers plays a significant
role for the protection of rivers as well as diversity along
the banks of rivers. A review was prepared to assess the
efficacy of riparian buffers of a particular site or
landscape for determining its actual contribution to
rivers. Riparian buffers also acts as a bio filter and
important secondary compounds of valuable importance
are leached from the vegetation in the form of
allochthonous carbon (carbon derived from leaf and leaf
litter) from these sites which may likely be responsible
for playing a vital role in maintaining and purifying
water quality. Present review paper mainly focuses on
riparian vegetation (buffers) and itsvarious carbon
content with its associated impact on the water bodies
and vegetation itself. Hence riparian buffers needs to be
restored to reduce water contaminants, hence
maintaining purity.
Keywords : Riparian Buffer, Water Quality, Vegetation, Leaf Litter, Secondary Metabolites, Allochthonous Carbon.