Disturbance events can regularly impact stream ecosystems; however, large‐scale catastrophic disturbances are rare. From September 2010 to September 2011 Christchurch City experienced over 8500 earthquakes including a magnitude 7.1. One consequence was catastrophic additions of silt and sand into waterways throughout the city. Of 161 km of permanent waterways, 102 km (63%) were affected by earthquake siltation. Benthic inverte...

Riparian buffer zones are viewed as an important management tool for waterway protection. However, little qualitative or quantitative assessment has been made of their dimensions or composition. We surveyed 88 small agricultural waterways within the Canterbury region to characterise the width and vegetative composition of riparian ‘buffer’ zones. Less than 20% of buffer zones were 10 m or wider and approximately 65% ≤ 5 m wide...