Project Stream: Restoration Ecology at MHC

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/10166/4621

Prior to 2012, Project Stream was an unnamed (and largely unknown) waterway feeding into the North end of the MHC lakes system. Professor Kate Ballantine's Restoration Ecology class began studying the stream, compiling site history, producing GIS maps, collecting data on water, soil, and vegetative characteristics of the area, conducting stakeholder interviews, and doing reviews of relevant case studies and legal requirements.

Like much of the globe, the MHC water system has problems with nutrient pollution, and Project Stream was not functioning to its full potential to remove those nutrients and filter the water. REP students took on the task of planning for and implementing a full site restoration. A key step was measuring the baseline conditions at the site so that change over time can be monitored. Site monitoring will continue indefinitely, enabling us to better understand site dynamics and providing a valuable background dataset for research projects of all types.

This data archive provides the Mount Holyoke community with access to the datasets and research of faculty and students who study issues such as soil and water quality at the restoration site, and in relation to Project Stream.

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Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • ItemRestricted
    Project Stream Stream Flow Data
    Ballantine, Kate; Ballantine, Kate; Mount Holyoke College; Anderson, Todd; Bartolucci, Nia; Criscione, Julia; Tucker, Allison
    Stream flow data for Project Stream was recorded in the summer of 2016, with several measurements taken across the span of the stream on a roughly weekly basis throughout the summer months.
  • ItemRestricted
    Project Stream Soils Data
    Ballantine, Kate; Ballantine, Kate; Mount Holyoke College; Anderson, Todd; Bartolucci, Nia; Criscione, Julia; Pierce, Erin; Rawas, Farah; Tucker, Allison; McDonald, Brittany
    Soil properties - Soil data have been collected at Project Stream each summer from 2014-2016. Data were collected using the same quadrat system utilized for vegetation cover data. The dataset includes denitrification potential, microbial biomass C, respiration, soil NO3, soil NH4, soil TIN, microbial biomass N, mineralization potential, nitrification potential, soil moisture, soil organic matter, bulk density, pH, soil temperature, and redox. Most variables are located in the Project Stream Soil Data_MasterSheet.xlsx file. Additional data for pH, soil temperature, redox are located in the ProjectStreamGHGData_MasterSpreadsheet.xlsx file. Greenhouse gas data - Measures of greenhouse gas emissions from the soil have been collected at Project Stream each summer from 2015-2016. Data were collected using the same quadrat system utilized for vegetation cover and soil properties data. The dataset includes soil moisture, headspace measures to indicate the volume of the chamber being sampled, whether there was standing water on site, site temperature, and fluxes of CH4, CO2, and N2O. These data are stored in the ProjectStreamGHGData_MasterSpreadsheet.xlsx file.
  • ItemRestricted
    Project Stream Vegetation Data
    Ballantine, Kate; Ballantine, Kate; Mount Holyoke College; Anderson, Todd; Bartolucci, Nia; Criscione, Julia; Pierce, Erin; Rawas, Farah; Tucker, Allison; Lang, Carey
    Vegetation cover - Vegetation cover data have been collected at Project Stream consistently each summer from 2014-2016. Data were collected using a quadrat system, as laid out on the attached diagram. The dataset includes cover class data, assigned using the Braun-Blanquet Cover Estimate Scale. For each quadrat, researchers estimated cover of features (grasses, forbs, ferns, shrubs, trees, rocks, bare soil, water, logs/stumps, lichens, and bryophytes) as well as cover of individual species of grass, forbs, ferns, shrubs, and trees. The data are organized in two formats. The “Vegetation Cover by Quadrat” tab treats each combination of year and quadrat as a line of data and records cover data for all species within the quadrat in that year. The “Vegetation data by Species” tab treats each combination of year and species as a line of data and indicates everywhere a particular species was found in a given year. Vegetation species presence/absence - Species presence/absence data have been collected at Project Stream consistently each summer from 2014-2016. Data were collected along transects that run through the quadrats referred to above and used for vegetation cover data. Each transect is further divided into sections that lie between each set of quadrats. For each of these sections, the dataset includes presence/absence data for grass, forb, fern, shrub, and tree species. The data are organized in two formats. The “Vegetation Transect Data” tab treats each combination of year and transect as a line of data and records presence/absence data for all species found along the transect in that year. The “Vegetation data by Species” tab treats each combination of year and species as a line of data and indicates everywhere a particular species was found in a given year. Tree data - Tree data have been collected at Project Stream consistently each summer from 2015-2016. Along transects, individual tree data were recorded, including transect location, species, height class, DBH, and stem count. The data are located in the “Tree Data” tab of the file.