Centennial Woods Natural Area is 65 acres of beautiful nature and a great distraction from busy college life. It is about a 5-7 minute jog away from UVM central campus, and is right by the campus police department on Catamount Drive. Centennial Woods was the perfect spot to choose for my phenology project because it was easily assessable, and the patch of land that I am observing includes many different natural systems.
When you enter Centennial Woods, you will travel down multiple hills until you get to the first warning sign of poison ivy. Following the trail next to the waring sign, you will continue to follow the trail and walk over multiple mini wooden bridges. You will encounter the first sighting of the Centennial Brook, and walk over a bridge above it. Following the bridge over the brook, there will be a larger upwards hill, with a small clearing. Once you reach the top of the hill, you will walk straight until you see the other side of the hill going downwards, and the brook is sitting at the bottom of the hill.
This area is where I will be observing for the rest of the year. The area is very beautiful and full of wildlife. The area near the brook is steep, but once the brook starts, the land flattens out. Throughout the steep hill, there is a very large ash tree, accompanied by smaller red maple and eastern hemlocks. The canopy near the brook is not very full, and consists mainly of understory trees, and a few of big over story trees. When looking at the brook, the bottom of it is made of mainly dirt and sand. At some parts, there are medium to small sized smooth stones, with maple leaves hanging onto them. The sides of the brook appear to be heavily eroded due to the lack of plants buffering the runoff that is headed into the brook. The few plants that do live next to the stream include groups of sword ferns, and the invasive plant species buckthorn. The sides cave over themselves, and the dirt looks very moist. Throughout this strip of the brook, there are a couple of fallen trees crossing over the bridge.
