Effects of Frequent Stream Classes on Aquatic Macroinvertebrates
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Environmental Impact from Outdoor/Environmental Education Programs: Effects of Frequent Stream Classes on Aquatic Macroinvertebrates DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Jon P. Bossley Graduate Program in Environmental Science The Ohio State University 2016 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Susan Fisher, Advisor Dr. Richard Moore Dr. Kristi Lekies Dr. David Denlinger Copyrighted by Jon P. Bossley 2016 Abstract Environmental stewardship is an underlying theme in outdoor education (OE) and environmental education (EE), but maintaining natural areas in a sustainable balance between conservation and preservation requires knowledge about how natural areas respond to anthropogenic disturbance. My five-part study investigated the effects of disturbance on aquatic macroinvertebrates caused by frequent in-stream activity by students during OE stream classes. I conducted an observational study of stream classes at Heartland Outdoor School (henceforth, Heartland) in Morrow County, Ohio during April to June and September to October, 2012 to determine the methods by which students explore the stream. Subsequently, I conducted a year-long disturbance study from February 2013 to January 2014 at two sites (one site impacted by student activity and one site unimpacted by student activity) in upper Alum Creek on the Heartland property following a modified BACI design. The year-long study enabled analysis of trends in the macroinvertebrate community in three distinct channel units (i.e., riffles, runs, and pools) throughout the year including two disturbance periods (mid-April to early June and mid-September to mid-November) when stream classes are regularly active at the impacted site. Results showed evidence of student-induced disturbance for taxa richness in riffles and taxa richness and Chironomidae abundance in runs. No direct evidence of student-induced disturbance was found in pools. During April and May, 2014 I conducted a six-week substrate movement and rock colonization study in upper Alum ii Creek to investigate the extent to which students cause rock movement and the extent to which rocks are colonized by macroinvertebrates at the impacted site compared to the unimpacted site. Results showed that in base flow conditions students caused rocks to move upstream, laterally, and vertically at the impacted site to a greater extent than hydrologic activity caused at the unimpacted site. Macroinvertebrate abundance and richness were significantly greater (p<0.05) at the unimpacted site than at the impacted site at the end of the study. Also in May, 2014 I conducted a one-week disturbance study to examine within-riffle and among-riffle effects of student activity on the macroinvertebrate community. Results showed no significant effect (p>0.05) of student activity for the within-riffle study, but did reveal greater percent clingers at the unimpacted riffle than at the impacted riffle in the among-riffles study. During June, 2015 I conducted a randomized block design experimental disturbance study in three tributaries of upper Alum Creek to investigate the effects of experimentally manipulating the stream substrate. Results showed no negative effect of the experimental substrate disruption on the macroinvertebrate community and actually revealed an increase in macroinvertebrate abundance and percent Leuctridae following the experimental disruption. Finally, I combined information gleaned from the field studies and observational study to develop the first phase of an index of student-induced disturbance (ISID) to serve as a predictive model for the effects of human in-stream activity on aquatic macroinvertebrates. In this first phase, the ISID takes into account student activity, time, and area of the disturbed site to determine a single numerical value representing the level of human impact. iii Acknowledgments An interdisciplinary project necessarily involves input from many individuals, so I would like to express my gratitude here for the contributions made to my project by the following individuals and organizations. First, my thanks goes to several individuals who supported my academic work: my committee members, Dr. Susan Fisher, Dr. Richard Moore, Dr. Kristi Lekies, and Dr. David Denlinger, for their adaptability through many changes necessitated by university rules and subsequent amendments to rules; Dr. Glen Needham for willingly providing his lab and office for my use; Dr. Woody Foster for willingly providing use of his lab; Dr. Don Dean for his enthusiastic help with field sampling and macroinvertebrate identification; Mike Bolton and his team at OEPA for their patient guidance with macroinvertebrate identification; Dr. Rocky Smiley for his patient and thorough help with experimental design, statistical analysis, and document review; Dr. Herb Broda, my advisor at Ashland University during pursuit of my M.Ed., for insight and critique regarding the outdoor education component of my research; fellow colleagues in the Environmental Science Graduate Program Heather Fair, Molly Semones, and Natalia Riusech for providing insightful review of my dissertation and providing help in preparing for candidacy and defense exams; and secretaries Linda Neeb in the Department of Entomology and Chanelle Kinney in the Department of Evolution, iv Ecology, and Organismal Biology for printing many articles for me during the long process of literature review. My thanks also goes to several organizations who supported my research: the National Science Foundation for funding four years of my research through the S.T.E.M. fellowship “Linking Watershed Education with GK-12 Education in a Watershed Context: A place-based, inquiry, teaching & research fellowship program serving schools in the Sugar Creek Watershed” (National Science Foundation Grant No. 0638669); the Ohio State University Department of Entomology for funding my dissertation-writing year through provision of a TA position; Heartland Outdoor Environmental School for eagerly partnering with me in my research; and the Ohio State University Department of Statistics, Huong Ngyuen in particular, for advice regarding statistical analysis. I also want to thank those who inspired me and supported me through prayer: my parents, Bob and Betty Bossley, for establishing the family tradition at The Ohio State University before Woody Hayes had even arrived while my Dad earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in plant pathology; members of my prayer team – my offensive line who faithfully blocked for me – Aaron and Colleen Coole, Jay Lucas, Tom Stecher, Dr. Georgia Purdom, Ruth Carter, Dr. Terry Mortenson, and my fullback Doug Thibaut. Finally, I express my thanks to Almighty God for the calling He placed in my heart to pursue knowledge and for His faithful provision throughout the process. v Vita June 1992 .......................................................B.Sci., The Ohio State University 1994 to 2002 ..................................................Outdoor Educator, Mohican Outdoor School 1996 to 2003 ..................................................Naturalist, Ohio Department of Natural Resources August 2004 ...................................................M.Ed., Ashland University 2004 to 2011 ..................................................Science Teacher, Genoa Christian Academy 2007................................................................Show Staff, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium 2011 to 2015 ..................................................NSF S.T.E.M. Fellow, The Ohio State University 2015 to present ..............................................Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University Publications Yoder, J.A., Benoit, J.B., Nelson, B.W., Main, L.R., and Bossley, J.P. 2015. Behavioral correction to prevent overhydration and increase survival by larvae of the net-spinning caddisflies in relation to water flow. Journal of Experimental Biology. 218:363-369. vi Fields of Study Major Field: Environmental Science Minor: Entomology vii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv Vita .................................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables .................................................................................................................... xii List of Figures ................................................................................................................... xv Chapter 1: The Outdoor/Environmental Education Context to an Interdisciplinary Problem ............................................................................................................................... 1 The Singularity of Interdisciplinarity............................................................................... 1 The Development of Outdoor and Environmental Education ......................................... 3 Connecting Stream Monitoring to OE and EE ................................................................ 9 The Role of Failure, Fallacy and Misconception ........................................................... 11 Human-Environment Interaction ..................................................................................