This week I visited Black Point Park and Fishing Area in Narragansett, Rhode Island. During my visit I mainly followed the Malcolm Grant Trail which historically is a well known public access point and natural area along Narragansett Bay. I found it interesting how drastically the vegetation changed in relation to distance from the ocean. The initial ecosystem seemed to dominate with hardwood trees including species such Black Cherry and Ash. The species found here overlapped with tree species at my VT Centennial site though Eastern White Pines did not dominate the Black Point stand as they do in Centennial. Closer to the ocean was a buffering area of small shrubs and grasses. Some of these species included pokeweed and winged sumac, both which are not found at my regular phenology site. Black Point was also noticeably more windy then my site in VT where a larger forest patch creates wind protection. This difference may create even more differences in the species who live in each habitat.

Walking along the muddy parts of the trail I saw many dog tracks alongside human footprints. Unfortunately these were the only tracks I founds. Still, I suspect both White Tailed deer and Red Fox to live in this region. Deer as they are a very common and an adaptable species, and Red Foxes as they thrive in areas with both woodland and forest edge.

The cliff area boarding the ocean showed cracks and erosion from the water. Additionally all of the stones found on several stone beach inlets were smooth from the constant crashing of waves. This differed from the stones at my Centennial Site that exist jagged and have undergone far less erosion from the weaker brook. Viewing the calmer waters protected by inlets I saw several coastal bird species not found in Centennial such as mergansers ducks. Although the woodland area found at Black Point did share several species with that of my site in Centennial, the ecosystems as a whole are very different. Centennial is a developing complex forest while Black Point is a coastal habitat making the two fundamentally different.

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Based off of the information found in Wetland, Woodland, and Wildland, my phenology site can be classified as an old growth forest. Although the forest is historically known to be young and therefore not as complex as it may become in the future, several hints lead me to believe the forest is entering an old-growth, second succession stage. For instance, my site contains many birch trees who are now dying due to their shorter longevity. These trees were likely from the prior stem-exlucsion forest stage but now are blocked sunlight by the dominating Eastern White Pines. Additionally, although not currently, I know in the warmer months that my site has a very strong, dense understory. This further supports the complexity of an old growth forest.

Beyond the disappearance of understory vegetation since my first visit to my site, I have recently noticed lots of dying tree decay during the cold winter months. The area in general is much more sparse. The brook that flows within my site is more turbulent than past visits as it is full of run off and precipitation. Additionally it seems that erosion along the edges of the brook has left sand and rocky sediments to mix into the turbulent water flow.