Nina Grout A Rapid Ecological Assessment of the Hill Wetland Reserve in Granville, Ohio with an Emphasis on Breeding Amphibian Habitat Division Sciences Major Environmental Studies Year 2003 Advisor Tom Schultz

Wetland habitats are vital to the existence of many organisms, but unfortunately human activities have a negative impact on their health causing their numbers to rapidly decline.  The focus of this study was on the Hill Wetland Reserve in Granville, Ohio that was donated in 1996 to a local conservation organization, the Licking Land Trust.  The rapid ecological assessment was used to gain information about the history of the land, the important hydrogeologic features, the vegetation that can be found, as well as the amphibians that use the wetland for breeding in the spring.  Although this study was preliminary, it was determined that the Hill Wetland Reserve and the surrounding uplands were important to breeding amphibians. In the future monitoring and management techniques should be researched and implemented in order to conserve this habitat that provides important functions to the local community and the environment.