Centennial Brook Phenology Project

Centennial Brook 10/9/24

I chose a spot along Centennial Brook for this project. You can get to the exact spot by following the main trail, and once you reach the clearing, go slightly left and down the hill where you can see the brook perpendicular to you. You will know you reached the right spot when you see a large mossy fallen tree going down and across the brook, as pictured. I reached this spot while on a trip with the herping club and felt it would be interesting to come back and see how the vegetation and brook changed throughout the seasons.

Overall, most of the vegetation in the area still seemed to be alive despite the cooler temperatures recently. Trees still had most of their leaves, though it was obvious the hardwoods were starting to drop some, and the conifers appeared healthy.

Some of the most common woody plants I saw in the area include:

• Norway Maple
• Eastern Hemlock
• Northern Red Oak
• Yellow Birch
• Barberry
• Buckthorn
• Red Maple
• Eastern White Pine

I also noticed a few new species that I had yet to ID like the Intermediate Wood Fern and Japanese Tree Lilac, which can be found on my iNaturalist page.

Other things that caught my eye include:

• Most of the leaf litter is brown rather than bright colors (aside from red maple)
• The fallen tree across the brook is rotting and is covered in moss
• There appears to be some stream bank erosion
• Sediments from erosion create a very obvious line of sedimentation in the brook (pictured below)
• The higher water speed at the slight bend in the brook seems to be driving the erosion