The Murphy

1
The Murphys Bottom Ecological Project Website

• Benjamin Latoche, Brady Porter, R D Volkmar

Pandion haliaetus soars over Murphys Bottom
Eptesicus fuscus caught during bat mist-netting
A recent survey by the PA Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) indicates that
intact backwater wetlands are among the rarest of
natural habitats left along the Allegheny River. 
The Murphy's Bottom Ecological Project is a
habitat restoration effort aimed at reclaiming an
abandoned gravel and sand dredging site along the
Allegheny River in Armstrong County, PA.  Faculty
from the Department of Biological Science and the
Center for Environmental Research and Education
(CERE) at Duquesne University are finalizing a
master plan for the restoration of the Murphy's
Bottom site which includes connecting a lake to
the Allegheny River to form a new backwater
wetland and monitoring the potential increase in
biodiversity over a 5-year post-restoration
period. Baseline biodiversity surveys have been
conducted over the past three years by pairing
Duquesne students up with taxonomic experts from
the PA DEP, the Carnegie Museum of Natural
History, and the National Aviary. A website has
been created (http//hawking.cr.duq.edu/Murphy'sBo
ttom/) to keep various stakeholders abreast of
the progressing restoration activities and
contains information that is both scientifically
useful and easy to understand by the public.  The
website facilitates updated access to photos,
maps, biological survey results, water quality
data, proposed actions, and a history of the
property.  It is our hope that the site will
become an integral form of communication between
Duquesne University and the various stakeholder
groups.
In order to fully evaluate the site and the
possibility of physically manipulating it, an
engineering firm, LSSE Inc., was hired. Among
other things, one of their tasks was to create a
map of existing cover types on the property.
Through modification using the various Adobe
software, I was able to turn this graphic into an
interactive imagemap where users could click on
certain areas to reveal multiple pictures of the
associated cover type.
Another important aspect of the Murphys Bottom
Ecological Project is that it allows students and
community members to directly observe/interact
with the environment. Various studies have taken
place where students have gained hands-on
experience identifying and cataloging different
species alongside experts in the field.
Students help perform a biotic survey in 2006
In order to collect the baseline biotic data
required for the project, a multitude of studies
have been performed on the site. These surveys
range from public bird counts on Saturday
mornings to insect light trapping during the
weekend-long bioblitz outings. Below is a table
summarizing noteworthy samplings.
URP students perform their community service
project at Murphys Bottom
As the master plan for the Murphy's Bottom
Ecological Project develops, it is important to
keep the goals of habitat enhancement in mind.
After consultations between Duquesne University,
LSSE engineering firm, and other stakeholders, a
map of planned cover types has been developed.
Target Organism Method(s)
Birds Guided bird counts
Fish Gill netting, electroshocking, benthic trawling
Mammals Small mammal traps, pitfall trapping, bat mist-netting
Plants Tree surveys, point-transect sampling
Reptiles/Amphibians Specific searches (e.g. salamanders, snakes)
Microorganisms Plankton sampling, microbial diversity study
Insects Netting, light trapping
A sample diagram of the Murphys Bottom cover
type imagemap
Another interesting aspect of the Murphys Bottom
site is its rich anthropogenic history. Multiple
archeological digs have shown that the property
has been utilized for thousands of years by
Native Americans. More recently (approximately
300 years ago) the lands namesake, Revolutionary
War soldier Samuel Murphy, settled and farmed the
land. To this day, the Murphy family cemetery is
kept and maintained on the property.   While
farming may have been the first major human
alteration to the land, it was certainly not the
last. Since the mid-20th century, companies have
harvested many natural resources on site
including sand and gravel starting in the early
1970s. It was this activity that left the
property in its currently disturbed state,
opening the possibility for the creation of a
backwater wetland.   This information and more
can be accessed via the history page on the
Murphys Bottom website.
Proposed cover types at Murphys Bottom
The data gathered from these ventures was
subsequently assimilated into the website in two
different forms. Firstly, a simple chart
indicating a species presence was incorporated
directly into HTML . Additionally, a more
detailed Microsoft Excel spreadsheet was made
available for download that included specific
observation methods, times, and in some cases
amounts.
A screenshot of the Murphys Bottom History Page
along with a historical aerial photograph of the
property
Acknowledgements PA Department of Environmental
Protection Members of the Porter Lab The National
Aviary The Carnegie Museum of Natural
History Terry Laux
The Murphys Bottom fish species list with
corresponding Excel spreadsheet