Study to Improve Water Quality

The Mark Twain National Forest Soil and Water Program of the U.S. Forest Service Department of Agriculture is cooperating with the department of geography, geology and planning and the Ozarks Environmental and Water Resources Institute at Missouri State University to assess the response of water quality, runoff and stream morphology to landscape-scale forest restoration activities presently underway 

Currently, the U.S. Forest Service is restoring native yellow pine to some areas in Mark Twain National Forest to encourage ecosystem health. In order to allow more of this tree to grow, they are controlling brush and improving soil fertility with ground-level fires that do not affect larger trees.

Pavlowsky believes that findings of environmental research can evoke emotion and he often has to counsel the public as a result.

“Working on environmental research helps me grow because I get to see the world through other people’s eyes by the way they ask questions,” said Pavlowsky. “When environmental issues arise, some people get concerned about losing jobs or the effects of contamination. In that case, I am not only doing environmental science, but also environmental counseling.”

Other projects on stream health

Pavlowsky recently worked on a number of other stream projects with OEWRI including:

• The Big River lead remediation project —  Pavlowsky and his team examined the effectiveness of the EPA’s efforts to stop lead and zinc contamination from moving down stream along the Big River
• The bio-solids runoff project —  They studied the effects of using bio-solids (organic matter from treatment plants) as fertilizer on stream
• The PAH sources project  — Intended to identify the effect of the wearing down of hard sealants on parking lots on stream health

Source: Missouri State

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Taxonomy

• Research
• Water Quality
• River Basin management