NR1010 Phenology Project

• Introduction to my chosen location 

This area is right off of the Spear Street recreation path.  This is a 4.6-mile out-and-back walking, running, or biking trail that runs behind the Gutterson Fieldhouse and alongside the Burlington Country Club.  Since I have been at the University of Vermont, I have been walking and running on this trail because it starts right on campus and will take you all the way down to the waterfront.  The trail is lined with many different native tree species to Vermont such as Eastern Hemlock and the American Beech.  Because this trail is home to many natural riparian buffers on both sides, I decided that this would be an ideal place to complete my phenology assignment.  The specific location on this path I will be studying is by the stream under the bridge seen in the screenshot below which is located about 2 miles out from campus.  Although this area is close to the road and has a high-trafficked recreation path, most of the green regions around are all natural and experience much human influence, making it an ideal location for the phenology project. 

• Location

• Description of the vegetation

The majority of the over story is eastern hemlock and green ash whereas the understory is fairly open with some small false buckthorns and ferns along the hillside.  Looking downstream, the left side of the bank has a steeper grade and a thicker undergrowth with many false buckthorns and some young red oaks and the right side of the bank is more clear with mainly ferns.  Overall, there is not super high biodiversity in this area because the majority of vegetation consists of eastern hemlock and false buckthorn.

• List of the most common woody plants

Eastern hemlock

Green ash

False buckthorn

Red oak

Eastern white pine

Paper birch