I spent my Thanksgiving break at my home in Louisville, Kentucky. For my phenology spot there, I chose a spot along Beargrass Creek in Big Rock Park, which is only a short walk from my house.
This spot is very different from my spot in Burlington. For one, it is in a much more developed area. The park is not very large and there are busy roads on either side of it. In addition, the trail system gets much more traffic and the natural area at the spot is somewhat tramlped from hikers and walkers. The creek that it sits adjacent to is also much busier, frequently a site of swimming and fishing. As for the ecoloy, my spot in Louisville is much more open than the one in Burlington. In Louisville, the tree cover consists mostly of small, young oaks that provide little overhead canopy cover, whereas the Burlington spot is dominated by large Eastern White Pines that provide a lot of shade and cover. In contrast, the ground cover in Louisville is much thicker than in Burlington. I think this is a result of the increased sun exposure from less tree cover. Most of the plants are different as well. In Louisville, it is mostly Pin Oaks, some Maples, some American Beech and many small decidious plants in the undergrowth that I couldn’t identify. The ground cover in Louisville is mostly winter creeper. I think the different topology, different impacts from humans, and different climate lead to these differences.
