Rivers and Streams - Golden Gate National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service) Creek in Phleger Estates NPS Photo. It is called a riparian corridor because water sources flow from high ground to low ground, through a variety of different habitats. Because they are long and narrow like hallways, they provide runways of movement for animals from the highlands to the lowlands, and vice versa. Many of the shrubs and vines of the riparian zone have berries or lush leaves. The trees harbor a myriad of insects, important to migrating songbirds such as flycatchers, warblers, and vireos as they stop to rest and feed on their journeys of thousands of miles. Riparian corridors are also critical habitat for amphibians such as tree frogs, newts, salamanders, and the endangered red-legged frog.
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