|
Christian Park
Christian Park Riparian Restoration
How to get there - Yahoo Map (Driving Directions)
How to get there - Indy Parks pdf Map
Parking lot map
Background Information Provided by
Indy Parks and Recreation Office of Land Stewardship
Christian Park is a 74-acre community park
surrounded by residential neighborhoods on the East Side of
Indianapolis in Central Township. The park offers numerous
year-round recreational activities that include walking/jogging
paths along the wooded stream. It is along this stream that service
learning participants have installed trees, shrubs and wild grass
seed. These plant introductions will self-propagate, eventually
filling in a portion of the natural forest plant structure—now
missing in most of the streamside woodland.
In order to reduce nonpoint source pollution on a watershed basis,
restoration practices will need to become as popular as landscaping,
gardening installation, and grounds/turf management. Projects like
these will provide living examples of how to help restore and manage
the natural environment.
The riparian restoration will improve water quality through: 1)
improving ground water recharge by reducing stormwater runoff; 2)
filtering non-point source pollution from parking lots and grassed
areas by allowing native plants to grow to their natural height; and
3) increasing dissolved oxygen levels by shading the stream with
native trees, shrubs and other vegetative layers. The Christian Park
restoration project, and other restoration projects in public parks
and greenways, will begin to reduce non-point source pollution in
area water bodies.
Although the woody plant species may take many years to mature, the
grasses will become established in as little as three years,
providing food and shelter for local and migratory wildlife as well
as an aesthetically pleasing natural landscape. Upon maturity of the
woody tree and shrub species, the restoration site will contain a
natural vegetative structure that helps restore the ecological
function of a native riparian corridor.
This restoration is ongoing since 2001 when volunteers from the
Nazarene faith helped remove 6 acres in invasive Amur honeysuckle.
Notice the bare soil after the honeysuckle bushes were removed in
the photograph below. The honeysuckle prevents natural forest
regeneration. This is where your hands will put back what was taken
by invasive plants. As one can also see from the 1937 aerial photo
below, the land along the stream has a history of human disturbance.
top of
page
Educational Note:
Reference the IUPUI
Center for Earth and Environmental Science when citing
material from this website. To learn more about citation
and plagiarism visit:
University Library
General Reference Resources:
http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/genref
IUPUI Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and
Conduct:
http://www.iupui.edu/~sldweb/rights/ top of page |
