High resolution land cover data improve understanding of mechanistic linkages with stream integrity

Summary Recent progress in very high spatial resolution imagery (VHSRI) has increased the availability of fine‐scale land cover data over extensive areas. This new spatial information might improve our understanding of how land cover affects stream ecosystems. Land cover information was investigated in whole catchments and riparian areas in Normandy (France) and related to stream macroinvertebrates at 155 sites. The first model was based on the land cover data obtained via moderate spatial resolution imagery (MSRI) at the catchment scale. The second and the third models were additionally based on riparian land cover data both locally (at the site) and upstream. The riparian land cover data were derived from the MSRI for the second and from the VHSRI for the third model. Riparian vegetation (at a distance from the channel of 5–100 m) was poorly detected by MSRI when compared to VHSRI. The model based on higher resolution data at the riparian scale (i) ensured that relationships identified at the riparian corridor scale were independent from those at whole catchment scale, (ii) identified the influence of riparian vegetation on the aquatic environment as being most pronounced when using data from a 20‐m wide strip (i.e. 20 m on each bank for a total of 40 m) and (iii) disentangled the effects of roads from other urban infrastructure. This study confirms the advantages of using very high resolution data in landscape approaches to the study of aquatic ecosystems. It provides accurate spatial information at the riparian scale that improves interpretation of the influence of land cover on the ecological condition of streams and allows identification of relevant features for management.