Today, I visited my phenology site for the last time for this project. There were several differences since the last time I visited this site, especially because I was away for Thanksgiving Break and have not visited in close to a month. There is snow blanketing every surface of my site, which was not there the last time I visited. All of the leaves of the deciduous trees have fallen, and the brook has even started to ice over in some areas. The land was completely different than when I last saw it because of all of the snow and the cold weather. I did have some tracks in my site too. Unfortunately, I could not identify them because the little bit of snow last night blanketed them and made then indistinguishable.
My site is deep into Centennial Woods, which is a protected natural area owned by the University of Vermont. It is several acres of thick, lush forest that sits right in the middle of Burlington, a short distance from the busy campus and downtown Burlington. It is filled with a diverse number of species of trees and other woody plants. Today, Centennial Woods is a prime location for college students to hike through in its vast number of trails. But back in the 1800s and 1900s, the land was used for a different purpose. The woods that used to exist in the area were clearcut. This land was then used for farming just like every other piece of clear cut land in Vermont. This is evident because of all of the rock walls throughout the woods, marking the edges of property and certain enclosures throughout the old farm. The wood that was cut down was most likely sold and used for several purposes back then. Now, as a nature preserve, the trees have had a chance to regrow. There are several shade tolerant eastern hemlocks on my site as well as some large conifers. Because my site is so deep in the woods, it is slightly more mature than the edges of the forest, with some larger and older trees. There are also many more shade tolerant trees because of the lack of sunlight. The brook provides an area for some shade intolerant species to grow right on the edges. Overall, this is still a fairly young natural area that is not very mature because of its need to regrow since being clear cut. There are still many more coniferous trees, but some hardwoods are starting to be able to take a stand in the area as well.