Getting the most out of a wetland: Captivating an urban student audience

Background/Question/Methods

Wetlands provide ecosystem services such as water retention, wildlife habitat and biodiversity. They offer many opportunities in research and learning, having one foot in aquatic and one foot in terrestrial systems. The dynamic nature of wetlands makes them ideal outdoor laboratories in urban areas, where woodlands and lakes are limited in quantity or too distant. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a city founded on the confluence of three rivers, providing numerous opportunities for wetland studies along tributaries that feed into the larger bodies. Point Park University, an urban university in downtown Pittsburgh, and Allegheny Land Trust, a local non-profit organization, worked together to identify an 80-acre parcel of floodplain and wetland with a history of strip mining and golf course development as a site for undergraduate research and laboratory activities. During the past two years, biology majors and other students from Point Park University have participated in a bioblitz and helped plant shrubs and saplings to facilitate the rehabilitation of a natural wetland.

Results/Conclusions

Introducing non-majors to an environment beyond the “asphalt jungle” has raised their awareness of the need to protect local wetlands for their ecosystem services. In addition, biology majors participate in research in water quality, wetland plant monitoring and dendrochronology which has offered opportunities in independent research. The wetland plant monitoring has shown that 25% of the herbaceous plant community consists of invasive species. These monitoring results provide further opportunities in research of invasive species and wetland rehabilitation. The dendrochronology studies have allowed students to focus on the history of Wingfield Pines, with results showing that tree growth has been more strongly tied to competition among neighboring trees than precipitation or temperature. In using Wingfield Pines as a learning resource, students from all majors have developed an appreciation for wetlands, received endless opportunities to gain research experience and served the larger community by helping to protect natural resources.