For my phenology spot, I chose a place in Farrell Park.
Once you get to the parking lot for the park, follow the paved path to the left up the hill. The path will go in and out of the woods, cross a bridge and eventually you will come to a wooden sign post at the top of the hill, Make a right at the sign post and continue around the bend until you see a small unmarked path on the right side of the path.
The trail will go over several fallen logs and cross one of the larger main trails. Stay on the trail until it reaches a small bluff over a stream bed.
Follow the trail around the left side of the hill until you can see the stream and surounding streambed, and you’re here!
The slope down to the stream and the area directly around the stream is my phenology spot. I chose this spot because I came to the park earlier this semester on the bike path and really liked the area. When I had to decide on phenology spot, I came back and found one here. The spot is isolated and off the main path and has agood variety of plants and topography that I think will be interesting to study.
The topography of this area consists of a mild slope that flattens out into the floodplain of a small stream. The stream is slow-flowing and shallow, only about 4 inches deep at its deepest point. The vegetation differs between the slope and the floodplain. The slope vegetation consisted of mostly large overstory trees. The dominant species are Eastern Hemlock with a handful of large Eastern White Pine trees as well. There are some smaller, undergrowth trees, namely young Eastern Hemlock, and a few American Beech and Red Maple trees. There is about 15% ground cover, mostly consisting of ferns and Partridge Berry. The vegetation of the floodplain consists of smaller, much more sparse tree cover. The dominant species are American Beech, Yellow Birch, and Red and Norway Maples. There are still a handful of young Eastern Hemlocks as well. The ground cover consists of the same species, but is much thicker in the floodplain, about 30% cover.
