PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #70: Education: Undergraduate II.
Friday, August 9. Presentation from 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM. Exhibit Hall B & C, TCC

Use of ecological data from seven watersheds in the southern Appalachians for teaching and research .

Pohlad, Bob^*,1, Thomas, Carolyn^*,1, Monteleone, Susan², ¹ Ferrum College, Ferrum, VA² Lindsay Wilson College, Columbia, KY

ABSTRACT- Through two collaborative grant projects, Research Opportunities for Collaboration in the Appalachians (ROCA) and Collaboration through Appalachian Watershed Studies (CAWS), Southern Appalachian watersheds at seven different small colleges were instrumented and data collected for the last year. Weather data was collected and included air temperature, precipitation and ambient humidity. The watersheds were mapped and described in order to understand differences and similarities. Some of the watersheds were evaluated for tree basal areas and population of tree species, and some of the watersheds' streams were studied for water quality based on the macroinvertebrate populations as measured by the Izaak Walton's Leagues Save Our Streams (SOS) methods. Other measurements that were compared include hydrologic characteristics, soil temperatures, photosynthetic activity rates (PAR), mammal populations, leaf decomposition rates and stream chemistry. Each watershed's ecological measurements were recorded on a project web page (www.ferrum.edu/caws), which allowed the students and faculty at each college's watershed to compare the data from the other Southern Appalachian watersheds. Students discussed physiometric differences between study sites and the influence of geomorphology on ecosystem parameters. Data will be presented to demonstrate that the watersheds were found to represent temperate deciduous forested ecosystems but were different in other ways such as the hydrologic response to storm events. Current land use patterns in each watershed were found to influence characteristics such as soil temperature and stream chemistry.

KEY WORDS: Watersheds, Appalachians, teaching, collaboration