Strips of grass or other close-growing vegetation that separate a waterway (ditch, stream, creek) from an intensive landuse area (subdivision, farm); also referred to as filter strips, vegetated filter strips, and grassed buffers.
Slender areas of permanent vegetation, often planted along the edge or the contour of a field, usually to slow the flow of water or the velocity of wind, in order to capture sediment and other materials before they leave the farm and become pollutants. Types of buffers include filter strips, field borders, grassed waterways, field windbreaks, shelterbelts, contour grass strips, and riparian buffers.