FW 4200 / 7200 Urban Wildlife Management
Neighborhood Profile Assignment
Spring 2011
 
 
 
 

Lab and Data Collection, Friday, January 28, 2011

First Version Due:  Friday, February 11, 2011(50 points)

Final Version Due:  Wednesday, February 23, 2011 (50 points)
 

Please read the following articles before Friday, January 28:

Middendorf, G. and C. Nilon. 2005. A crosstown walk to assess environmental changes along an urban socioeconomic gradient. Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology 3 (Experiment #3). http://tiee.ecoed.net/vol/v3/experiments/crosstown/abstract.html

Rolland, M.  2007.  A street divided.  Columbia Missourian

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2007/05/19/street-divided/

In today’s class you will conduct a 2.3 km transect along a single Columbia street, to observe changes in vegetation and environmental conditions along a socioeconomic gradient in an urban ecosystem. Your observations will be used to develop an understanding of how environmental conditions vary across city neighborhoods and the relationship between social, economic, and cultural factors, environmental conditions and wildlife habitat.

Instructions

Part I – February 28 Lab

Our transect starts at 950 Edgewood Ave. and ends at the intersection of Alexander Ave. and W. Worley St.  The transect is a single street with multiple names.  With this assignment start the habitat of keeping field notes to document what you do and observe in your work as a wildlife biologist.  Your notes should start with the date, time of day, weather, and other information that describe the conditions during your walking tour. Make sure to describe the route you took through the neighborhood, naming streets and places.  Identify and write down the characteristics that address your topic.    Locate and describe the best places for seeing these unique characteristics. Please walk the transect  and focus on taking notes, pictures with your cell phone and other information that helps you make sense of what your are seeing.  We will meet at the end of the transect to discuss your observations.

 As you walk along the street please observe variation in environmental conditions. These might include, but are not limited by any means to:

building condition — abandoned, occupied but in need of repair, litter and graffiti, good to excellent

building type — single family house, duplex, apartment house

building density — single family, multiple family, apartment

block condition — neat and well ordered, generally neat but occasional untidiness, unclean, hazardous

vegetation — large old trees, small trees, garden (more details can be provided, e.g. species, DBH, etc.

wildlife --_ wildlife observations and wildlife habitat

safety — street lights present, house/apartment lights present, security signs, etc.

Part II – After Lab

Use your notes and other observations and the readings listed below to write a 3 to 4 page description of the transect and surrounding neighborhoods. This should be a kind of guidebook to the transect in which you provide a description of what a resident might expect to see and look for, including any key landmarks and sights—as well as any historical, socio-economic, and cultural differences along the transect.

Your description should be written in the form of a report to the City of Columbia's Neighborhood Organization Program. Feel free to include pictures and tables to illustrate the key findings of your report. You should use Journal of Wildlife Management's Instructions to Authors as a guide for style, design of figures and tables, and citations. Your description should address four areas:

1.  What are the natural or semi-natural features that define the neighborhoods along the transect? 

2.  What are the cultural features:  housing styles, buildings, institutions, and special places that define the neighborhoods along the transect?

3.  What and where are the wildlife habitats in your neighborhood and how do they vary along the transect?

Please turn in the drafts of this assignment by uploading your work from the assignment page in blackboard.

Rubric for this Assignment

1.  Does your profile include an introduction that states the date, time, weather conditions, etc. that are relevant to your crosstown walk?

And, is your profile organized into sections that follow the introduction that describe items 1 – 4 at the start of this assignment.

2.  Does your profile include a description of the unique features of the neighborhood, and their location?  Are photographs of these places included?

3.  Does your profile include a description of wildlife habitats in the neighborhood and their location?  Are photos of these habitats included?  

4.  Are there captions for each photograph and are the photos referenced in the text of the profile?

5.  Is your profile written in the form of a report to the City's Neighborhood Organization Program ?

6.  Does your profile capture the feel of the neighborhood as residents might experience it?