A UVM blog Phenology Project Blog

Today I took a final visit to my phenology spot in Centennial Woods. The forest was full of activity, and within my first few steps of the trail I came across wildlife. I saw this cute Eastern Cottontail Rabbit and I quietly approached to get a close up picture.

I continued to my spot, where things were in full bloom. The buds on the Norway Maples that had just started opening last time I visited in April have transformed to small, fragile leaves. When looking up into the canopy, you can see many different sized and aged Norway maple leaves and the needles of the Eastern White Pine (the other focal tree species at my spot). The ground is covered in emerging Fiddlehead that are still fuzzy and are on their way to fully uncurling.

A great thing about being at UVM later into May is being able to see (or in my case hear) all the migratory birds that are coming back to the area. While at my spot, there was a chorus of bird calls that I was able to identify as a Black-capped Chickadee, Red-winged Blackbird, Wood Thrush and White-breasted Nuthatch.

Over the past seven months, I have been able to observe how nature and culture intertwine at my phenology spot. My spot is located in a well used area for things like walking and lab work from classes at UVM, so there is a lot of human interaction. The culture of Burlington- people who like to be outdoors and care for the environment- is present here because the people bring it here. The students at UVM also create a culture of fun here by using it as a a place to relax and explore. For me specifically, coming back to this spot has been an ongoing learning experience and has a culture of peacefulness and reflection.

I would consider myself an important contributor and part of my place. I was affecting the landscape by walking the area and picking up different leaves and berries that were dropped and placed somewhere else. My presence could have also impacted what animals decided to live there, as seeing me might have caused them to want to stay away from danger and go farther in the woods. I had a positive impact by documenting the beauty of this place and sharing it with other people, making them want to respect and preserve it as well.

For this phenology post, instead of going to my usually phenology spot, I participated in the BioBlitz for the City Nature Challenge. I went to the Arms Forest, a natural area next to Rock Point.

To make observations, I used iNaturalist. This app allowed me to identify different species and post them to the community. It was very easy to use and helped a lot with identifying plants since it’s still early spring and not a lot of them have leaves yet. The only animals I saw were squirrels and it was too cold for bugs to be out, so I focused on plants, especially ones I don’t usually see at my phenology spot in Centennial Woods. The two most interesting plants I saw were skunk cabbage that was by a small pond (and could be smelt very easily from a distance) and a red trillium. I also saw some really cool roots by a small stream but wasn’t able to identify them.

Another really cool thing about the City Nature Challenge was getting to see the observations people made in other cities and the wide variety of animal and plant species. I specifically looked at observations from Cape Town, South Africa because I love marine life and I thought it was cool to go from seeing all forest in the Burlington area to ocean. It’s crazy to think that species I have never even heard of, like the Gasflame Nudibranch (a type of sea slug), is the most commonly observed species there.

Being able to connect virtually with other parts of the world is such a cool experience, especially when it gives me the chance to experience nature in a new way. I know I will be participating in next years City Nature Challenge, and I look forward to seeing what other cities have to offer.

For this entry , I visited my phenology spot on April 12th, the Monday after a very sunny and warm weekend. Over the weekend lots of trees and plants started blooming, so I was very excited to see some of the changes at my spot in Centennial Woods.

Here is the spring view at my phenology spot, where you can see some green starting to pop up. There was a large amount of barberry bushes, most not yet with berries. There were also some elderberry plants with purple buds starting to flower.

My spot has mostly coniferous trees, so there was not a lot of tree blooms to observe. The ferns that had covered most of the forest floor were shriveled up and dying. I also think heavy human traffic could have played a part, as many of them were flattened out on the ground.

I was also able to see some spring budding on trees. The Norway Maples, one of the focal species at my spot, was starting to bloom. Within the bud you could see both the leaves and the helicopters opening up.

During my visit I heard many different bird calls and saw quite a few birds. For the ones I was not able to see, I used a bird song ID app for identification. I saw a chickadee, American robin, and goose and identified a tufted titmouse and eastern phoebe with the app.

I also included a species interaction diagram, showing the relationships between red maple, barberry, squirrel, chickadee, mosquito, and worm. My phenology spot did not have upper trophic level species, just producers, primary and secondary consumers, and decomposers.

On Sunday I took advantage of the warm weather and walked down to Lake Champlain. The snow on lawns was melting away, leaving lots of mud in its wake and causing little rivers to run down the sidewalks. At Church Street there were many people walking around in just sweatshirts instead of bulky winter jackets and muddy dog tracks could be seen all over. There was a slushy snow and mud mix on the boardwalk that made it very slippery.

These decorative Chanticleer Pear trees line the boardwalk. I used the tree database in the Burlington Open Data Portal to identify this species and others that I saw.

As I walked down to the lake shore the only tracks I saw in the snow/mud were squirrel tracks. When I got to the sand there was some very clear dog tracks but nothing besides that. I saw some ducks in the water and heard the occasional crow but I think the fact that there were a lot of people out and active may have been a contributing factor to the lack of animal sightings.

On the walk back I saw lots of trees with long, thin buds. I used the photo ID plant identification app, and was informed that the these are Linden trees. Unfortunately, all the pictures I took of the buds came out blurry but I also checked on the data base and the species did match.

To continue my phenology blog, I returned to my spot in Centennial Woods. Seasonal changes from when I was last there in the fall to now included the tress being completely bare, and a foot of snow. The barberry bushes had very few berries and only the buds left on the branches. It was snowing when I went and I did not see any animals and very few tracks, mostly just the imprint from snow falling off of trees. I was able to hear a black capped chickadee and some other birds.

The tracks above are the only ones I found. The impressions aren’t great because some more snow was falling and filling them in. My guess is that these are deer tracks. When I got backed I looked into it more and found out the deer sometimes drag their feet when they’re tired or in a deep amount if snow, which would explain the dragging lines. There were also some snowshoe and boot tracks from people using the trail.

Human History of Centennial Woods Phenology Spot

Centennial Woods has gone through many drastic changes over the years, varying in size, uses, and ownership. After Euro-American settlement in the 1600’s much of Vermont was cleared for open land and by the 1850’s Vermont reached the height of deforestation. Although Centennial Woods was not completely cleared, it did lose a large majority of its area to increased animal based agriculture over time. At the end of the 19th century, the remaining Centennial Woods was subdivided and reconsolidated. The University of Vermont bough are over time from five different owners (from 1891-1968). Once the school controlled the land, Centennial Woods underwent even more changes over a shorter period of time.

UVM Development of Centennial Woods

• Shrinking Centennial (1963)
  • 19 acres of CW seized from UVM to build interstate 89
• 1970’s Burlington
  • public interest in environmental protection increases, so University takes action citing “the growing concern over degradation of the natural environment”
• 80’s and 90’s
  • land is bought by UVM, but not managed or revived
  • parts of Centennial Woods continue to be sold and woods shrink
  • uses for sold portions of Centennial Woods include:
    • recycling center
    • storm water retention ponds
    • parking lots
    • housing complex (Centennial Court Apartments)
    • expansion of hotel conference center
• 91’:
  • UVM gets approval from city of Burlington to develop Centennial Court Apartments IF they agree to make a management plan for Centennial Woods and conserve the 66 acre natural area parcel of woods in perpetuity
• 97′
  • UVM donated development rights to Vermont land trust
  • agreement for donation states that Centennial Woods will have no development except for:
    • digging soil pits for education
    • maple sugaring
    • trail maintenance
    • continuing current rates of water conservation

References

W. Poleman, C. Brooks, Natural History and Human Ecology Lecture, Ira Allen Chapel, University of Vermont, September 9, 2020

Baird, J. B., (2014, December 14) UVM Students Ply Practical Land Stewardship, Burlington Free Press. UVM students ply practical land stewardship (burlingtonfreepress.com)

Hopkins, G. M. Map of the city of Burlington, Vermont: from official records, private plans and actual surveys. Philadelphia, Pa.: G.M. Hopkins, 1890.
http://cdi.uvm.edu/collections/item/Burlington_Hopkins_1890

My at home phenology spot is a lake about five minutes from my house. Crescent Lake occupies a valley on the western side of Bradley Mountain, above the Quinnipiac River valley. It is a water reservoir for the town of Plainville and a well used recreation area. It has many hiking trails, a small dock for fishing, and is open for bow hunting September to December.

	Crescent Lake	Centennial Woods
Ecology	– used for recreation (hiking, hunting, fishing) – used more heavily in winter for ice fishing, snowshoeing, and ice skating	– used for recreation (hiking) – used as an educational area – less widely used in colder months
Phenology	– mostly deciduous trees – flat, even area around lake – lake freezes over	-mix of deciduous and coniferous trees -differing in elevation throughout – river flows year-round

References

Google Maps. [Google Maps location of Crescent Lake]. Crescent Lake – Google Maps

Holland, M., (2019). Naturally Curious. Trafalgar Square Books.

Changes in Phenology

As we get deeper into fall, my phenology place progresses in its adaptations to prepare for winter. Most trees have lost a portion of their leaves and the forest floor is now covered with yellow and brown Norway Maple leaves in addition to the Pine needles that were there before. I also noticed what looked like running clubmoss along a cluster of marble rocks that were lower in elevation. On some of the trees there were new pink paint marks probably for a research project. Here are some updated pictures:

At my spot I noticed a few changes in vegetation. There are a lot more needles from the Eastern White Pines on the ground and it seems like a lot of ferns are starting to be effected by the colder weather. The maple trees are starting to change color completely and lose leaves in some parts. There doesn’t seem to be that many animals making habitats in this area. In the fallen trees there are some insects living in the decaying bark and I saw a couple bird nests.

I decided to use Centennial Woods for my phenology spot because I want to explore the area more. To get to my spot you go down the path at the trail head and at the second clearing there is a small path to the left. It runs above and almost parallel to Centennial Brook and if you follow the path for a few minutes you will see a few big fallen trees to the left on the incline. The trees caught my eyes as a good sitting spot to observe and I really like how densely packed the trees are and that you can still hear the brook. There are tons of ferns all over and lots of fallen trees. The two main types of trees are Norway Maple and Eastern White Pine but there are also a few Sugar Maples, a single Paper Birch, and a few American Beech trees that are very dead without bark. None of the trees have changed color yet but the Eastern White Pines are dropping a lot of needles. Some other vegetation are Barberry and Thicket Creeper.

References

Google Maps. [Google Maps location of Centennial Woods]. Centennial Woods Natural Area – Google Maps