Month: March 2019

I spent my spring break this year in a small town outside of Nassau in New Providence, Bahamas. The phenology I observed over spring break was most definitely different than that I have observed so far this semester in Burlington. The most obvious difference was the weather, the last time I went to my spot in Centennial Woods the weather was around 20 degrees and there was over a foot of snow on the ground. My phenology spot over break was the beach in front of the AirBnB where I stayed over break. The weather was 80 degrees and sunny with a slight breeze. My phenology spot in Burlington is primarily northern hardwood species of trees, while the only species of tree visible at my break phenology spot was the Arecaceae, or Palm Tree.

The water body in my Burlington phenology spot is Centennial Brook, a stream that runs just down a small embankment from the northern hardwoods. New Providence, the island on which my phenology spot was this break is nestled in between the Gulf of Mexico and the North Atlantic Ocean, and my spot was right on the ocean.

My phenology spot in Burlington is home to several native species of the Northeast United States, while I have had a hard time tracking these species, I know from other students whose phenology spots are in Centennial Woods that there are several species of native birds, along with White-tailed Deer, Porcupines, and Snowshoe hares that can be found around my phenology spot. The only wildlife I found over break were several small snails embedded in the dead coral in my phenology spot, peeking out of the ocean.

Pictures!!!!

What type of natural community is this?

My natural community is a Northern Hardwood Forest. There are numerous full-grown sugar maple and boxelder maple trees, characteristics of a northern hardwood forest. Northern Harwood forests are often not first-generation forests, meaning that they have undergrowth periods of clear-cutting for agriculture or lumber. Northern Hardwood forests were often regenerated following a large deforesting event. I believe that is what happened here. I believe this because there are signs of previous land clearing here. There are abundant herbaceous plants, but there are not many old growth trees. There is abundant space in between the old growth trees and the size of the trees indicates that they began growing around the time of the fall of the timber industry in Vermont, in the early 1900s.

Changes Since Last Visit:

Since my last visit, there have only been a few changes visible at my phenology spot. The snow has started to melt, at my first visit this semester there was about a foot of fresh snow, with impressions from falling snow and canine tracks easily visible. The snow has started to melt and harden into slush in many spots. It was much easier to walk to my spot this time. During my first visit, I had to trudge through snow and fell on ice on the way back. The snow has turned from fresh powder, into a more slushy type of snow associated with the beginning of the melting season. The ice over the brook has started to melt and more flowing water is visible, you can hear the brook more.