March!

What type of natural community is this?

My natural community is a Northern Hardwood Forest. There are numerous full-grown sugar maple and boxelder maple trees, characteristics of a northern hardwood forest. Northern Harwood forests are often not first-generation forests, meaning that they have undergrowth periods of clear-cutting for agriculture or lumber. Northern Hardwood forests were often regenerated following a large deforesting event. I believe that is what happened here. I believe this because there are signs of previous land clearing here. There are abundant herbaceous plants, but there are not many old growth trees. There is abundant space in between the old growth trees and the size of the trees indicates that they began growing around the time of the fall of the timber industry in Vermont, in the early 1900s.

Changes Since Last Visit:

Since my last visit, there have only been a few changes visible at my phenology spot. The snow has started to melt, at my first visit this semester there was about a foot of fresh snow, with impressions from falling snow and canine tracks easily visible. The snow has started to melt and harden into slush in many spots. It was much easier to walk to my spot this time. During my first visit, I had to trudge through snow and fell on ice on the way back. The snow has turned from fresh powder, into a more slushy type of snow associated with the beginning of the melting season. The ice over the brook has started to melt and more flowing water is visible, you can hear the brook more.