The site that I selected while home for thanksgiving break follows an old logging road above a class 1 stream that feeds into the headwaters of the Lamoille river. This site is a mix of early and mid-succession forest and sits at an elevation of 1400-1450ft abs. In the figure below the measured line represents the general path of the old logging road, I examined the land along that corridor the distance of 20-25 feet from either side of the road.
Ecology Comparison:
A major factor affecting the ecology differences between my two sites is elevation. Salmon hole sits at around 200ft abs while the site that I chose in Elmore sits at 1400ft abs. This 1200ft difference in elevation affects precipitation, temperature, species density, and variety as well as the interactions between all of these things. At my site in Elmore, there is noticeably more snow on the ground than anywhere in the greater Burlington area. This is because of the lower temperatures and higher levels of precipitation that a location at 1400ft abs experiences. Another important difference between the two sites is their interactions with human activity and development. While my site at Salmon Hole is central to an urban landscape and sandwiched between development, my Elmore site sits on the edge of hundreds of acres of wilderness. This effects things like noise pollution, wildlife habitat, wildlife activity, and other “human produced’ pollutants. One of the most noticeable things I experienced while observing my Elmore site was how quite it was. I wonder how this effects things like mating calls and communication between animals or what kind of noises are occurring that my human ears aren’t picking up in that environment. The tree species at my Elmore site included a dominant amount of Yellow Birch and Eastern Hemlock as well allot Striped Maple and the occasional American beech. These tree species indicate a well drained and
Phenology Comparison:
When traveling from my home to Burlington, and vice versa, I am always surprised by the differences in appearance of season. Even just traveling 15 minutes from my house down into Lamoille valley I notice a dramatic difference in things like snow cover, temperature, foliage and spring growth. At this time of year the most obvious phenological differences I noticed had to do with the snow and ice. While the ground at my site in Elmore is frozen solid, in Burlington the grass is green and the ground is still soft. I also notice that as I took the dirt roads down from my house the dirt slowly turned to mud as I dropped elevation. The difference in elevation between my two sites makes traveling between the two seem like a journey between two different seasons. While Elmore feels deep into winter, Burlington still seems on the edge of ‘stick season’. Since there was allot of snow at Elmore I was able to easily find a bunch of animal tracks. There were deer tracks, squirrel, rabbit and a TON of coyote tracks as well as other signs of wildlife like scat and bedding areas where deer spent the night.
Honorable Harvest:
This site is an area where I have grown up walking through and playing in. There are little forts built out of logs and branches darted across the hills and between trees, as I walked through the woods to my site I could spot remnants of old fairy houses that my sister and I built with my mom. Although I have spent a ton of time in these woods I have never ‘harvested’ anything from these particular woods. Instead of leaving something in the woods to display my appreciation for them I instead chose to verbally announce my thanks. In the silence of the snow cover woods I yelled “THANK YOU!” before I left. I have often thanked my parents for bringing me into the woods as a kid but thanking the actual forest for providing such an amazing place for me to grow up and learn in was something long overdue.
