The Furman Forest

Furman University faculty and students are conducting surveys of various taxonomic groups at the Furman Forest, following the "All Taxa Biological Inventories" being conducted at state and national parks. At present, surveys of reptiles and amphibians, dragonflies, canopy tree species, and mammals are underway. Through this research, we hope to catalog the species that are present and track changes in populations of special concern. Students interested in conducting ecological research for BIO 502 (BIO 85) credit should consider Furman forest as a possible research site.

HYDROLOGICAL STUDIES

PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS

Changes in Carbon Dioxide Concentration in Headwater Streams

Garrecht Metzger, an Earth and Environmental Science major (class of 2009), studied the flux of carbon dioxide from first-order streams in northern Greenville County, including a small stream in the Furman Forest. In collaboration with Dr. Brannon Andersen (Earth and Environmental Sciences Department) and Dr. Greg Lewis (Biology Department), Garrecht collected water samples along stream transects and measured conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and concentrations of major ions and dissolved organic carbon. The partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) was highest at the source spring in all streams and was between 141 to 3317 times atmospheric pCO2. This CO2 probably originated from respiration by soil biota. Concentrations of CO2 declined rapidly downstream, faster in forest streams than in urban streams. Modeling conducted by Garrecht suggests that out-gassing of CO2 from the stream water to the atmosphere could account for most of the observed decline in stream pCO2. These headwater streams may be important biogeochemical "hotspots" for CO2 degassing within watersheds.
Summarized From: Metzger*, G., Andersen, C. B., and G. P. Lewis. 2009. Rapid pCO2 decline in headwater streams of the upper piedmont, South Carolina. 58th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 41, March 12-13, St. Petersburg, FL.


Abundance of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria in Urban and Forest Streams

Emily Tripp, a Biology major (class of 2010), studied the occurrence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) in streams draining watersheds with predominantly urban or forest land cover beginning in the summer of 2009. This research was conducted under the supervision of Drs. Greg Lewis and Min-Ken Liao. Other Furman students involved in the project included Jordan Lyerly and Steve McCauley (both class of 2012). Two streams at the Blue Wall Preserve were among the forest streams sampled. We quantified abundances of ARB from streams in 5 watersheds with mostly commercial land cover, 5 watersheds with mostly residential land cover, and 5 watersheds with mostly forest cover. Water samples were filtered through 0.45 µm membranes that were placed on nutrient agar with different antibiotics, and the numbers of bacterial colonies on filters were determined. Concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria and major stream solutes also were determined for all samples. Bacteria resistant to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, kanamycin, and tetracycline were most abundant in commercial watersheds. With the exception of tetracycline-resistant bacteria, ARB were least abundant in forest streams. Streams draining commercial watersheds also had higher electrical conductivity and sulfate concentrations than did streams in residential or forested watersheds. In all samples, ampicillin-resistant bacteria were more abundant than were other ARB by up to 5 orders of magnitude. Our research suggests that urban streams often have higher abundance of ARB than do forest streams.
Summarized From: E.R. Tripp*, J.Q. Lyerly*, M.-K. Liao, and G.P. Lewis. 2010. Abundance and diversity of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in streams draining urban and rural watersheds in the South Carolina Piedmont. 2010 General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.