2012 CREST Annual Report - Alabama A&M University

temporal variations in the concentrations of six gas species (CH4, O2, CO, H2S, SO4, and CO2) andaerosol concentrations were recorded. After comparing with aerosol concentration at the nearestcity (Huntsville), there is no statistical significant change. Further study is doing now. But there aremore negative ions in the forest areas, especially at pine forests during the winter season.Ms. Summers (Dr. Chen’s MS graduate student) has defended her thesis proposal and abstract fromher proposal is listed below:Ecosystem services are those services provided via natural ecosystems to benefit human beings.The forest ecosystem and wildlife species residing in these ecosystems provide services vital tohuman health and well being. Wildlife providers of valuable services at the Bankhead NationalForest in Alabama will be assessed based on literature and integrated data. Matrix analysis willdetermine which species deliver the most service and in which category of service. Along withclassification and identification of services contributed via wildlife ecosystem service providers,impacts of forest type on the execution of select ecosystem services will be predicted. Air qualitywill be monitored on each forest type as well to quantify which forest type contributes the most toclean air. This type of analysis may be used in future ecosystem assessment projects to showpossible impacts of land use change.Component 3: Aesthetics and environmental Impacts of outdoor recreation and woodybiomass harvesting on forest ecosystem (C. Christian, K. Naka)1. Explore relationship between visitors’ perceptions of resource conditions and actual resourceconditions at the Bankhead National Forest.Although the initial goal was to undertake the field work from the start of the project no fieldwork has been conducted to date due to challenges in student recruitment. A graduate student,Jonathan Hill, will be starting in the Fall 2012, with field work commencing soon after.2. Evaluate and monitor the environmental and ecological impacts of outdoor recreation activitiesat the BNF.Although the initial goal was to undertake the field work from the start of the project no fieldwork has been conducted to date due to challenges in student recruitment. A graduate student,Jonathan Hill, will be starting in the Fall 2012, with field work commencing soon after.3. Monitor quantitatively timber and biomass harvesting activities at the BNF.This objective is scheduled to be assessed in years 3 through 5.4. Assess harvesting environmental and ecological impacts of on soil surface and compaction,residual vegetation, and hydrologic processes at the BNF