Newbold, J. Denis, Susan Herbert, Bernard W. Sweeney, Paul Kiry, and Stephen J. Alberts, 2010. Water Quality Functions of a 15‐Year‐Old Riparian Forest Buffer System. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 46(2):299‐310. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2010.00421.x
Abstract: We monitored long‐term water quality responses to the implementation of a three‐zone Riparian Forest Buffer System (RFBS) in southeastern Pennsylvania. The RFBS, established in 1992 in a 15‐ha agricultural (row crop) watershed, consists of: Zone 1, a streamside strip (∼10 m wide) of permanent woody vegetation for stream habitat protection; Zone 2, an 18‐ to 20‐m‐wide strip reforested in hardwoods upslope from Zone 2; and Zone 3, a 6‐ to 10‐m‐wide grass filter strip in which a level lip spreader was constructed. The monitoring design used paired watersheds supplemented by mass balance estimates of nutrient and sediment removal within the treated watershed. Tree growth was initially delayed by drought and deer damage, but increased after more aggressive deer protection (1.5 m polypropylene shelters or wire mesh protectors) was instituted. Basal tree area increased ∼20‐fold between 1998 and 2006, and canopy cover reached 59% in 2006. For streamwater nitrate, the paired watershed comparison was complicated by variations in both the reference stream concentrations and in upslope groundwater nitrate concentrations, but did show that streamwater nitrate concentrations in the RFBS watershed declined relative to the reference stream from 2002 through the end of the study in early 2007. A subsurface nitrate budget yielded an average nitrate removal by the RFBS of 90 kg/ha/year, or 26% of upslope subsurface inputs, for the years 1997 through 2006. There was no evidence from the paired watershed comparison that the RFBS affected streamwater phosphorus concentration. However, groundwater phosphorus did decline within the buffer. Overland flow sampling of 23 storms between 1997 and 2006 showed that total suspended solids concentration in water exiting the RFBS to the stream was on average 43% lower than in water entering the RFBS from the tilled field. Particulate phosphorus concentration was lower by 22%, but this removal was balanced by a 26% increase in soluble reactive phosphorus so that there was no net effect on total phosphorus.
This paper presents a case study of the work of two teacher educators with an in-service science teacher. This case study forms one cycle of a larger action research study that will eventually lead to a model of how the third-space concept for teacher professional development can be realized in natural school settings. The case study took place in a Grade Eight integrated science class and was designed to facilitate collaborations at multiple levels -between teacher educators within a university setting, among practitioners within a school setting and between university teacher educators and school practitioners. Among the issues emerging as the research evolved were the various roles we assumed, such as coach, critical observer, decision-maker and advisor. Issues related to developing trust, teacher confidence, teacher tacit knowledge, time for reflection and classroom realities were significant findings. The research facilitated our personal and professional growth as we gained insights into the inside working of the curriculum and our responses to situations that emerged. This first phase of the research provided the experiences and theoretical insights that, with further research, can contribute toward developing a model of continuous professional development within a Caribbean context.
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