Time Line

The History and Future of Our Plot:

400 years ago the forest in our plot was likely young evergreen forest. We think this because the current  cover type is old growth evergreen and new hardwood saplings. This indicates that the forest is transitioning from softwood to hardwood. The old pines are dying out and making room for maple, oaks hickories and ashes. The biodiversity was probably higher 400 years ago. Like most of Vermont this area was deforested and has only grown back relatively recently. The forest was undisturbed and the trees would have been bigger and older.

Barring major disturbances in 2111 this site will be old growth hardwoods. There are currently young hardwood saplings that will grow up and shade out the remaining pines. The forest will not likely undergo any major changes in 100 years. The species composition will be basically the same. Tree density and age class will increase.

A picture of the trail going through our plot
Photo Credit: Kristen Wade

Human Impact and Management:


Our site has some signs of human presence, most noticeable is the trail that passes through our plot. There is also some damage to trees from people breaking branches and carving on them. There is also an impact from dogs that are often walked on the trails. Human impact can even be seen in the soil. The  upper layers of soil are very blended together. This is the result of plowing when the land was used for agriculture.

Some management recommendations we could make for this site could be to do selective cutting in the area to promote the growth of smaller trees and create some understory. This will improve songbird habitat. Dogs will have to be under control to prevent destruction of saplings or harm to the birds. For the most part we think this land should remain untreated. It is a state park and should be allowed to grow without the intervention of humans. It can serve as an example of the natural processes of succession.