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10 I Riparian Ecosystem Recovery Addressing impacts that occur directly in the riparian zone is also an impor- tant ingredient for bringing the riparian area back to health. Riparian ecosystems are resilient. Understanding the potential for natural recovery may, in some cases, eliminate the need for riparian revegetation or other types of streamside recovery efforts. More important, working with natural processes to foster natural regrowth should be the aim of all ripar- ian recovery efforts. Effective riparian recovery efforts need to be based on a sound understand- ing of site conditions, with an understanding of water availability, channel dynamics, and soil conditions being the most important. Generally, riparian revegetation is effective within a fairly narrow range of possible site conditions. On one hand, many degraded areas are too unsta- ble to support the vegetation planted during revegetation; on the other hand, some sites are capable of prolific natural regrowth, making artificial revegetation unnecessary. An Evaluation Strategy The dynamic nature of riparian ecosystems, their complexity, and the fact that even riparian ecosystems along the same drainageway can differ substantially from one another in plant composition and hydrologic characteristics make it imperative that recovery strategies be developed on a site-by-site basis. The evaluation should provide the ecosystem manager with a sound understanding of current site conditions, the condition of the site's watershed, how the site's physical and biological characteristics have changed, and the reasons for the changes. Rather than providing step-by-step instructions, this book discusses gen- eral approaches that can be tailored to specific situations. Chapter 2 outlines a strategy that will assist ecosystem managers in understanding the damaged ri- parian area's watershed, including the importance of understanding the land uses that occur in the watershed and how to gather information that describes the condition of stream reaches upstream and downstream from the riparian site, as well as its tributaries. Chapter 3 evaluates the impacts of human- related disturbances that frequently occur within the riparian zone and de- scribes various strategies for reducing their impacts. Chapter 4 outlines some important considerations for determining the potential that a damaged ripar- ian area will experience strong natural recovery, possibly making riparian re- vegetation or other types of streamside manipulations unnecessary. Chapters