About this Manual

This manual is intended for use with college-level, ecology-related courses. For the most part the authors have employed the ecosystem ecology (or "small watershed") approach. This means that they have focused on "the bigger picture", examining whole forest processes or the dynamics of an entire stream.

This manual is a part of the CAWS (Collaboration through Appalachian Watershed Studies) project, which consists of a network of eight faculty, six colleges or universities, and six small watershed sites scattered throughout the Appalachian region. Each participating CAWS member has contributed one or more exercises to this manual. The intent is for students and faculty to share data that they collect in these exercises through their websites.

Click on the icons in the left frame to visit the six sites in our network to see what data sets are available, photos, watershed descriptions, etc.

All lab exercises are the intellectual property of the authors and may not be sold or published. However, the content may be downloaded and copied for educational purposes such as for use in a class or laboratory. Please acknowledge the authors and CAWS project whenever content is used.

Funding for the creation of this Lab Manual was provided by the Appalachian College Association and the A.W. Mellon Foundation through a 2002-2003 award and by the National Science Foundation's Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement program (DUE # 0410577).