Methods and Materials

         The Ecology class of 2002 did multiple studies of the University of Cincinnati-Clermont College campus and the surrounding areas.  The protocols that we used can be found at http://biology.clc.uc.edu.

          We mapped the five-falls creek from the tributary north to the point at E using tape measures, compasses, and marker flags.  We did faunistic surveys at the big tree down at five-falls creek, also between the falls and the fallen tree where it is really rocky at five-fall creek, and at the ponds. We did this for about 20-30 minutes at each site.  We did shrub counts (16 m²) at five-falls creek at the bottom of the ravine.  We did herbaceous (1 m²) counts also at five-falls creek at the bottom of the ravine.  For the tree analysis that we did at five-falls creek we used tree measuring tape as well as a regular measuring tape to measure the diameter at breast height (dbh) and the distance between two trees.  We also recorded the type of trees that we were measuring.  For the soil analysis tests we used a sample from Maple Creek.  We tested the pH, phosphorus content, nitrogen content, and potassium content.  For the Environmental Factors experiments were done in the parking lot, at west woods, at both of the ponds, the dump site, the athletic field, and also on the path in the woods.  In all of these areas we tested the light intensity at high, medium, and low using foot-candles and converting it to lux.  We also tested the air temperature in °F  using a dry and a wet bulb and converted it to °C .  Another test that we did was the relative humidity which we found using the psychrometer chart.  Soil temperature was going to be tested but the thermometer was broken so we used data from previous years to compare.  Wind velocity was tested by measuring the speed in mph at head height and at ground height and converted it to cm/sec.  We tested the water around the campus for hardness and chloride content.  We took water samples for these tests from maple creek, the north and south ponds, the west tributary of maple creek, and the swamp run off.  We used samples from the swamp run off, the north pond, and maple creek for the dissolved oxygen tests.  We also did tests on the aquatic habitat at the north pond and at the west tributary at maple creek.