Second Place in Category #4 – Science

STUDENTS: Alex Frietto, Cossette Orehek, Aron Tregaskis, Donald Vaskie

PROJECT ADVISOR: Dr. Megan Van Etten

ABSTRACT:

Outdoor recreation is often a benefit enjoyed by many communities, with hiking trails providing individuals with greater opportunities to enjoy nature while getting exercise. However, repeated trampling on hiking paths can lead to damaging effects such as compaction, nutrient loss, and increased soil salinity [1]. These conditions may be unfavorable for certain plants to flourish and can lead to a decrease in biodiversity [2]. In order to assess the potential threats from activities such as hiking, it is important to determine factors such as nutrient content and soil degradation. Two perpendicular transects were set on both sides of a hiking trail, with samples being taken at 0, 10, 20, and 30 meters respectively. At each location, soil degradation was qualitatively assessed (using metrics provided by Ólafsdóttir (2013)) as well as testing for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium concentrations, and bacterial abundance (via plates and soil respiration). The collected soil degradation scores indicated that the tested trails were relatively undamaged. Additionally, potassium levels remained relatively consistent throughout most samples, while phosphorus seemingly increased and decreased with distance for the dam and lake side samples respectively. The number of bacterial colonies decreased with distance for the dam side samples, similarly seen in the respiration data, which may conflict with the information gathered on phosphorus concentrations. This may indicate that there are other untested factors, such as pH, that may be affecting bacterial growth among the samples. While the soil degradation scores were low as expected, the data extracted from the samples were varied and seemingly contradictory.  The study design, collection of samples and soil degradation scores, and analysis of the data was carried out, under the supervision of Dr. Van Etten, by the following individuals: Alex Frietto, Donald Vaskie, Cossette Orehek, and Aron Tregaskis.