Harker's Group B

This topic submitted by Christopher, Lauren, and Beth ( topher6@hotmail.com ) on 3/1/02 .

1. Introduction
The area surrounding Harker’s run, the Joseph M. Bachelor Wildlife and Game Reserve, is a prime example of a fragmented landscape. Historically, Bachelor Reserve has had varied uses, mostly agricultural in nature. Now that Miami University owns the lands, the lands are used mainly for recreational and educational purposes. Miami is attempting to restore the area to a forested state, but because different parts of the forest were acquired by the university and allowed to return to natural state at different times, the land is highly fragmented. These fragments can be broken into two ecotones and ten landscape scenes:
á Scene 1: Floodplain Forest
á Scene 2: Southwestern Slope Forest
á Scene 3: Pine Stand
á Ecotone 1: Pine and Deciduous Forest Transition
á Scene 4: Young Floodplain Forest
á Scene 5: Successional Forest
á Scene 6: The Pond
á Scene 7: Open Juniper
á Scene 8: Closed Juniper
á Ecotone 2: Forest-Successional Transition
á Scene 9: Grazed Forest
á Scene 10: Upland Forest (Gramlich, 9-32)
These sections of the landscape are laced with tributaries that flow into Harker’s run. It is our hypothesis that each of these streams will show differences in composition according to the landscape that surrounds them. We also hypothesize that these differences in the tributaries will ultimately affect the overall composition of Harker’s Run, because each tributary becomes a part of Harker’s Run. It is also our conjecture that the tributaries running through the different scenes will differ in terms of water quality. We hypothesize that the tributaries flowing through older-growth forest will have better water quality than those that flow through newer-growth forests or shrub land.
In this project, we will study the composition of the tributaries, noting their physical and chemical properties. We will test for changes in composition at each of the tributaries’ sources (if reachable), at their mouths, and in between at changes in the landscape and where smaller tributaries flow into the one on which we are focusing. We will then confer with Harker’s Run Group A, which is studying the physical properties of Harker’s Run itself. By comparing their results with our own results, we hope to be able to see how each tributary affects Harker’s Run’s composition. Thus, our objective is to show how the fragmented landscape of Bachelor Reserve creates tributaries with very different compositions, and that these tributaries then affect the composition of Harker’s Run as a whole.
We believe it is crucial to our understanding of our scientific results that we understand why the landscape is so fragmented around Harker’s Run. Because of this, we will study the history of Bachelor Reserve, from natural woodlands, to agricultural lands, and to woodlands again as part of a recreational reserve. The transition from an agricultural area to a nature reserve is the most interesting part of the history of Bachelor Reserve from a social standpoint. We will discuss why this change occurred within the context of the environmental movement. In particular, we will look at the conservation movement, and the movement to create recreational areas and areas set aside for the study of nature. We also hope to show how the reserve is a reflection of the liberal arts culture that Miami University wishes to provide for its students, faculty, and community members—that studies should be well rounded; that recreation, education, and conservation can be combined in one reserve.
Because the Bachelor Reserve is an area that Miami University is trying to restore for the community’s educational and recreational use, we will also discuss the University’s process of reclaiming land. In particular, we will examine how the university is helping the land return to its forested state and protect it from further disturbances even as they have kept the reserve open for human recreational use and other potentially damaging activities. We also hope to discover how the Bachelor Reserve impacts the surrounding community. For instance, does Miami University have the support of the farmers surrounding the reserve to reduce the use of pesticides on their crops to reduce the runoff into Harker’s Run?
In accordance with Miami University’s wishes for the purpose of the Reserve, our time at Harker’s Run will not be completely work-oriented. We will make sure we enjoy Harker’s Run for its recreational qualities, documenting our time there with pictures, drawings, poetry, or prose. We will then compare our recreational outpourings of creativity with other local photographers, artists, poets, and prose writers. These will serve as visual aids for the project.
2. Relevance of Our Research Question
Although our project is interdisciplinary in nature, the literature written on relevant subjects is, for the most part, not. However, we still found resources that deal all of the questions we have decided to study. They are as follows:
Library/Journal References
Boden, Thomas A., et al. “Management Plan for the Joseph M. Bachelor Wildlife and Game Reserve.” Institute of Environmental Sciences, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio: 1984.
This report describes a plan for the management of the Bachelor Reserve. We will use it to examine how Miami University is managing the land, and restoring it while it is a recreational area that is not free from human disturbances. We can compare Miami’s management plan with those in Xavier Font and John Tribe’s book.
Chatfield, Thomas. “Creation of a Computer-Based Geographic Information System Database of the Joseph M. Bachelor Wildlife and Game Reserve, 1938 to 1988.” Miami University, Oxford, Ohio: 1991.
This source explores the how to keep track of geographic-related information using a computer database. We will use this to explore issues of management in the Reserve, and what Miami University is doing to keep track of the changes and structure of the system.
Font, Xavier and John Tribe. Forest tourism and recreation: case studies in environmental management. New York : CABI Pub., 2000.
This book provides examples of preserved forest areas that are also used by communities for recreation. It discusses the problems faced by ecologists trying to protect the natural state of the land in areas frequented by people for recreation or tourism, and how they resolve those issues. The Bachelor Reserve is also a protected natural area used for recreation. By reading about what others have done, we will be able to study how recreation and human activities affect natural environments, and how recreation can coexist with preservation and restoration.
Goldsmith, F.B., ed. Monitoring for conservation and ecology. London; New York: Chapman and Hall, 1991. 1st edition.
This book explains how to and gives example models for monitoring landscapes for preservation. One particularly helpful chapter may be “Development of a rationale for monitoring” by John M. Hellawell, which includes a section on monitoring strategies. We will compare what Goldsmith presents in this book with how the Bachelor reserve is being monitored by Miami University.
Gramlich, Lori M. “A Landscape Guide to the Bachelor Reserve.” Miami University, Oxford, Ohio: 1998.
This guide will be an invaluable resource for our group. It contains historical and geographical information about Bachelor Reserve, and is our only source that describes the ecotones and landscape “scenes” in the reserve. This will provide a general history of the land use in Bachelor Reserve, which we will study more in-depth with historical property maps and property use information. The information about the ecotones and landscape scenes of the reserve will help us understand the differences in the water quality and physical structure of Harker’s Run’s tributaries.
Grennan, L.E. A Bunch of Wild Flowers. Oxford, OH. No publisher or copyright date.
This is a book of poetry written by a local poet, L.E. Grennan, who includes many poems discussing Miami University and other surrounding towns, as well as a few naturalistic poems. He arrived in Oxford in 1866, so although there is no copyright date on the book, we can assume that the poems were written sometime after that. We will take sections of some of his poems to illustrate the cultural aspects of the area around the reserve.
Johnson, Carl S. “Miami University’s Lands for Learning: A Report on the Nature and Possible Uses of the Bachelor Estate and Associated Lands.” Report presented to President C.R. Wilson and the Board of Trustees of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio: 1965.
This report explores possibilities for the educational uses of the Bachelor Reserve. We will use this report to explore the historical use of the Bachelor Reserve, as well as how it ties into the environmental movement (the report was written in the 1960’s, has the growing environmental movement affected its contents in any way?).
Murphy, Captain David A. Backlog Ballads. Cincinnati, OH: The Methodist Book Concern, 1913.
This is another book of poetry written by a local poet, Captain David A. Murphy. Many of his poems describe the army, Ohio, or local areas. We will take sections of some of his poems to illustrate the cultural aspects of the area around the reserve.
Websites:
Miami University Natural Areas: This website has information about all of Miami University’s natural areas, including the Bachelor Reserve. It briefly describes how Miami University received the land as a gift from Joseph M. Bachelor, and what it is now used for. It also has a few photos of the Bachelor reserve, examples of art inspired by Harker’s Run.
A History and Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio: This website briefly discusses the history of Butler County, including when key roads were constructed. We will be able to find out more information about the historical disturbances of the Bachelor Reserve and Harker’s Run area from this page. Also, we will be able to find out a small amount more of information concerning what specific crops were historically grown along Harker’s Run on this site.
Ohio Nonpoint Source Assessment Group 61: This website lists creeks and rivers in the Oxford area, and their probable sources of nonpoint source pollution. Listed for Harker’s Run is agricultural runoff, though there is also some other information that may be helpful if we have some help interpreting it. This will be helpful because we are studying the water quality of the creek.

Fourmile Creek Stream System Data: This website lists EPA data for Fourmile Creek and its tributaries. Harker’s Run is listed as 3.7 miles long, with a drainage area of 7.2 square miles. There is some other information that may be helpful if we have some help interpreting it.

Shoreland Management – Rivers Primer: This website describes the basic model for the physical structure of rivers. Though it concentrates on large rivers flowing to the sea, we can apply the larger models to the smaller Harker’s Run system and see whether the physical characteristics of the tributaries follow the same patterns of larger rivers.
How Does This Relate to a Larger Question?
Harker’s Run can be seen as a model, a small-scale river in a fragmented landscape that we can easily study. However, once our study is completed, it can be used as a point of reference for larger river systems, such as the Mississippi, which also travels through a very fragmented landscape. The issues of landscape fragmentation, differences in the composition of tributaries, and managing reserves for recreation and education as well as restoration are all applicable on a much larger scale. Thus, our project is more than just about Harker’s Run. It deals with questions that are much larger than that.
3. Interdisciplinary Approach (including cultural, social and scientific perspectives)

To tackle our question from a social perspective, we will focus on Miami’s actions ‘towards’ Harker’s Run within the environmental movement taking place during the early 50’s. It will be interesting to know how those responsible were drawing from particular ideologies and strategies being presented by the movement. We will also look at to what extent the surrounding Oxford and Miami community was affected by the changes and restoration of Harker’s Run. Especially since the end product was not only a natural reserve, but also a recreation area, we will discuss the impact of Harker’s Run.

From the scientific perspective, we will study the composition of tributaries, trying to show how they are impacted by landscape fragmentation. We will research the physical aspects of the Reserve in terms of the geographical and chemical structure of the tributaries. We will perform water quality tests and document the physical structure of the tributaries by measuring water flow and sediment load.

The majority of our cultural perspective will research the history of Harker’s Run and the many changes it underwent as a result of restoration efforts by the university. It will also be interesting to read periodicals from that time and get a sense of the attitudes and values of the people in the community in regards to environmental issues in general. In addition to research, we will also conduct interviews with the graduate students living on the reserve now and also the Chair and members of the Bachelor reserve board of trustees, hoping they will provide cultural insights. Lastly, we will include various excerpts from literature and other artistic expressions that relate to Harker’s Run and can provide us with a more holistic view of the reserve.

4. A Specific Research Design

To research the historical land use, and how the formation of the Reserve relates to the environmental movement, we will conduct research at both the Miami University libraries and at Lane Library. For information on how the university uses land now and its management plan, we will talk to the Chair of the Bachelor Reserve board, and the graduate students who live on the land and are in charge of its upkeep.

For the scientific portion of the project, we will do an in-depth study of the composition of ten of Harker’s Run’s tributaries. We have marked the tributaries (T1=Tributary 1) we will be studying on a map, here.

These tributaries are:
á On the east side of the river:
o Tributary 1: long, closer to Route 73
o Tributary 2: relatively long, mouth near Scene 1
o Tributary 3: near Scene 10, source near Scene 9
o Tributary 4: source near Scene 8
o Tributary 5: mouth right across from Tributary 1 on west side of the river
o Tributary 6: source near Scene 7
o Tributary 7: intersecting Scene 5
o Tributary 8: bordering Scene 6
á On the west side of river:
o Tributary 9: in between Scenes 2 and 4
o Tributary 10: bordering Scenes 3 and 4

We will test the tributaries’ compositions in at least five different areas—once at the mouth, once at the source, and at least three times in the middle along shifts in the landscape or where another tributary joins the one we are testing. If another tributary joins the tributary we are testing, we will note which scene or ecosystem it came from, and take into account its effects on the tributary’s overall composition.

We will measure the physical structure of the tributaries of Harker’s Run so we judge how the tributaries influence the physical structure of the Run. The specific aspects of the physical structure we will be testing are flow, sediment load, and channel width and depth. We are measuring water quality to judge how the composition of the water changes according to the varied landscapes it flows through. To gain an overall understanding of the quality of water, we will test for phosphorus, nitrates, sulfates, dissolved oxygen, pH, and chloride. For both the physical structure and the water quality of the tributaries, we will do the measurements twice: once during “normal” conditions, and once during higher water conditions (or in a different season). This will give us a better grasp of the dynamics of the river system.
5. Materials and Methods
Sample Data Sheets

Measurements of ______________ (Flow or Sediment Load)
Tributary Mouth Source Middle #1 Middle #2 Middle #3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Water Quality Testing- there will be six of these charts used, two trials at three spots for
Each tributary

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10
PH
Dissolved O2
Chloride
Phosphate

Statistically, we will use determine mean, median, and standard deviation from the standard provided by the EPA Clean Water Standards. We will also graph our results, in order to highlight the differences between the tributaries.
Time Line:
We will be using the above charts to regularly measure and place into context each tributary. Ideally we will be visiting the Reserve weekly. We have run into some trouble with transportation. We do expect March to be a wet month, as well as, to find a warming trend for the month. So for March we expect to be taking regular samples because as spring rolls around, the weekly changes will be much greater than they have been as yet. Data collection will be done by the first week in April, with the calculations, analysis, and write up to follow.
6. Results
To this point we have accumulated data only during cold, and relatively dry periods. So results so far are not an accurate representation of the whole project. Correlation between data as far as being positive or negative has not been completely discerned. Yet we do notice some positive correlations between sediment load and dissolved oxygen. The pond has a higher level of fecal coliform. We really feel that because the ground is frozen right now that all data will be more revealing after thawing and rain. Because of the frozen ground not as much sediment is dissolved and the water is slower (sometimes frozen). As can be seen our group has focused more on the effect of land use and ecosystem fragmentation. We look more closely at the tributaries then we do Harker’s Run itself.
Then by comparing with Harker’s Run group A we will be able to understand the whole watershed. One thing we are particularly excited about discovering is which scene will show the best return to its original integrity. At that point we will then be able to recommend policies that mimic what has been done in that scene already.

7. Discussion & Conclusions
Because of the fragmented nature of the reserve, there seems to be differences between estuaries. Sediment load and dissolved oxygen seem to positively correlated. Perhaps it is only because of the pine grove but in the pine areas the grounds Ph tends to be more basic. This is because of the amount of pine needles lying on the ground. It remains to be seen completely if this is cause effect or if the ground is basic so the only thing that can grow there is the pine grove. Both options seem possible.
In relation to the other groups, Harker’s Run is a highly fragmented, new growth forest. Because of its varied use in the past the land itself seems to have different composition. Harker’s Run though is probably the least influenced by man, as Collin’s Run has much more litter and Western Pond is man made with a aerator, Western Pond is an ecosystem that could not exist without mans intervention. It seems like a healthy ecosystem, yet obviously has no integrity. Collin’s Run is an ecosystem is a very damaged ecosystem, and personally I would not even call it healthy.
I feel that the Barbed Wire that runs through the Reserve, marking where old pasture lands turned into farm land is a good metaphor for the state of the reserve. It is not really of anyone’s benefit to remove the barbed wire and it would require a lot of work. Perhaps even damaging the area around the wire. This is an example of how Harker’s Run and Bachelor’s Reserve is a healthy ecosystem, yet the integrity of it has been pretty much destroyed.

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