November 12, 2019

As I have done in previous blogs, I will describe not only my site, but the journey to my site. Bundled up with three layers, Bean Boots, and my winter jacket, I made my way through Centennial Woods. Since my last visit, there has been a major rain storm and a small snow falling. The rain storm knocked many trees over, destroyed the small wood foot bridges, and left the woods wet and trampled. Now that snowfall has taken place, it is evident that the ground itself is still wet, but frozen over. As I came closer to my site, I noticed something peculiar in a rotting tree. There was the large, deep hole in the lower bark of a tree I had passed many times before. This was new and showed signs that an animal may be burrowing or hiding out in there as the winter approaches. I snapped a picture of this and continued to my site. When I had arrived, I noticed that it had not changed much since my last visit. The leaf litter was decaying, the water was shallow and cold, and many of the small ferns were completely dead at this point. The biggest observation was a rotten section of a tree that was now moved to the entrance of my site. This log did not look man-cut or animal caused, so I assume it was from one of the storms. 

I have been focusing on a fraction of what makes Centennial Woods whole. This small site was chosen for its unique layout, and pretty appearance. Although I have only been taking note of this particular site, many others, if not all parts of the woods are going through phenological changes. If each part of centennial is changing individually and as a whole, this proves that the ecosystem is a well-oiled machine! When I look at Centennial Woods, I see it as a natural resource and an educational resource for myself and other UVM students. However, was it always viewed in this way? As we have learned in NR lecture, much of Vermont was deforested, or used for livestock grazing and milk production. Centennial Woods was most likely deforested at some point, and the healthy landscape shows that it would have been a prime location for raising livestock. There is some evidence of this, such as stone walls and old barbed wire in trees, but it is almost funny to stand in my site now and think that a sheep could have been here at one point.