Outdoor education classes that teach stream ecology concepts and methods are popular at many parks, nature centers, and resident outdoor education (ROE) centers. Stream classes are typically conducted at the same site due to ease of access, safety, and/or tradition. Consequently, organizations that serve large numbers of students may unknowingly negatively impact the biota and the student educational experiences within sites used by their stream classes. However, the effect of ROE stream classes on stream quality and student educational experiences has not been evaluated. Our research question was does the repeated use of a site by ROE stream classes impact aquatic macroinvertebrates and student educational experiences in a central Ohio stream? We sampled macroinvertebrates monthly from February 2013 to January 2014 with a Surber sampler at a class riffle that was repeatedly used by stream classes and an unused riffle located 1.2 km upstream that is undisturbed by stream classes. Generalized linear model analyses were conducted with the quassipoisson distribution to determine if macroinvertebrate taxa richness, abundance, and OSQM (Ohio Stream Quality Monitoring) index scores differed between riffle types and between time periods with and without stream classes.
Results/Conclusions
We found that macroinvertebrate taxa richness was greater (P < 0.05) in the unused riffle than the class riffle only during the months when classes were conducted within the class riffle. No differences (P > 0.05) in macroinvertebrate abundance and OSQM scores occurred between riffle types and time periods. During months with student activity the mean OSQM score of the unused riffle remained within the excellent category, while the mean OSQM score at the class riffle fell in the good category. The percentages of stream quality ratings were similar between riffle types during months when stream classes were not in session. During months when classes were in session, the unused riffle exhibited a greater percentage of good ratings than the class riffle. Additionally, the unused riffle exhibited no poor ratings, while 8% of the stream quality scores within the class riffle fell in the poor category. Our results indicate that repeated use of the same location by ROE stream classes can negatively impact aquatic macroinvertebrates and decrease the quality of student educational experiences.