This project evaluates the hypothesis that protection and/or maintenance of natural land maintains ecological stream quality by limiting, preventing, or redirecting changes to land cover and use away from headwaters, stream buffers, and wetlands. The project will be conducted in two steps — looking first at available chemical, macroinvertebrate, and fish data, and then collecting additional data specifically focused on the relationship between protecting forests and stream quality.
(Project details may change over the lifespan of a project. The project description listed here is from the annual report of the most recent project year.)
Funded by:
- 2020–2021: Open Space Institute
- 2022–2024: Open Space Institute and William Penn Foundation
Principal Investigators: John K. Jackson, Charles L. Dow, and David B. Arscott
Collaborating Organizations:
- 2020–2021: Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
- 2022–2023: Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Shippensburg University
Project Years: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
