INTRODUCTION

    Ecology is the study of the relationship between the environment and the life it contains.  It is important to examine how and discover why the different ecosystems change.  Not only is this important for the sake of the organisms that live there, but, also to enlighten ourselves to the workings of the natural world and the effects of human growth and development on the world around us.

   Here at Clermont College we have, for many years, studied the various habitats found around the campus.  Some of these habitats have been dramatically changed with the development of new buildings and parking lots and with the creation of the ponds.  With documentation of these habitats from past ecology classes it can be seen how they have changed over time both naturally and artificially.  By comparing the results of the current observations and analyses with the past results, conclusions can be drawn on how it has changed.  Methods to be used in the study include flora and fauna sampling, random-pair tree survey, soil analysis, environmental factors, water analysis, and mark and recapture.  This information will in turn be used by future studies to continue the monitoring of the changes in the ecosystem around the college.