This topic submitted by Bill Green on 2/18/03. Additions were last made on Tuesday, February 18, 2003. Section:

This looks like a promising proposal.

I wonder though how you will determine the cultural significance of "stream health" for the Adena and Hopewells. Would this or anything comparable have been a possible category of analysis prior to the scientific revolution?

I think it will be possible to speculate about the quality of the stream (as we have come to understand it) during pre-European times and to make comparisons with present water quality. I also think it will be possible to get a good sense of how the stream was used and how it entered into the culture.

You are determining biodiversity for the present stream. How will you compare this with biodiversity prior to European settlement? What measure will you use?

What is the significance of the upstream/downstream comparison? Are you thinking that upstream biodiversity might serve as a proxy for an undisturbed, pre-European, system?

Note that Berner and Berner also provide information on sediment runoff from agricultural and forested land. This will help in your water quality comparisons.

This is much improved from the earlier version.

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