FT 11

Long Term Ecological Research Sites in Baltimore

The watershed approach, which allows for the quantification of inputs and outputs of water and nutrients in hydrologically defined basins, has been central to ecosystem ecology over the past 100 years, allowing for holistic evaluation of ecosystem structure and function across areas of differing size.  In the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES), a component of the National Science Foundation funded Long Term Ecological Research network, we have used the watershed approach as a basis for comparison of urban ecosystems with the less human-dominated ecosystems that have been more traditionally studied by ecologists and as a platform for iterative cycles of question generation, hypothesis testing and model development.  Watershed studies in BES have focused on the Gwynns Falls, which has headwaters in suburban Baltimore County, traverses older (1950s) suburban areas, enters the northwest corner of Baltimore City, and drains into Baltimore harbor just south and west of the Inner Harbor.  We have also established long-term study plots in forests and urban grasslands (lawns).  In this trip we will visit the full range of long-term study sites in BES.  The trip will include short hikes in our forest reference watershed and along our most urban stream reaches and a picnic lunch.