Oak - Black Locust - Maple Forest
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| Pitch Pine on the Urban Reserve |
The loose and well drained soils on the eastern slopes of the Urban Reserve were once the sandy banks of Lake Champlain's Shoreline. In the mid-to-late 1800s, these dunes were heavily mined to supply fill for the new landscape of the industrial lakeshore. The original forest may have resembled a Pine-Oak-Heath Sandplain Forest -- look carefully in the winter months and you will see five looming pitch pines standing tall among the leafless trees of the forest canopy at the north end of the Urban Reserve.
Black locusts have matured on the south-facing slopes of the bowl that currently acts as a snow dump for the City of Burlington. Their gnarled branches create a distinct signature in this corner of the Urban Reserve. These trees are north of their native range but are common escapees of intentional locust plantings.
Red oaks have matured on the forested slope, companions of pitch pines in the Sandplain Forest natural community. Red maples, ash-leafed maple (a.k.a. boxelder), Norway maples, cottonwoods, black ash, quaking aspen, and big-toothed aspen comprise the overstory while buckthorn, honeysuckle, heath, shad, poison ivy and stag horn sumac fill in the understory. The deciduous woods is perfect for grey squirrels, skunks, woodchucks and raccoons, all of which were tracked on this forested slope. Pileated woodpeckers and white-breasted nuthatches were spotted perched overhead. The diversity of this portion of the Urban Reserve and its landscape-scale connectivity to the Old North End and Intervale suggest that it is providing high ecologic value to Burlington's Waterfront.
Black locusts have matured on the south-facing slopes of the bowl that currently acts as a snow dump for the City of Burlington. Their gnarled branches create a distinct signature in this corner of the Urban Reserve. These trees are north of their native range but are common escapees of intentional locust plantings.
Red oaks have matured on the forested slope, companions of pitch pines in the Sandplain Forest natural community. Red maples, ash-leafed maple (a.k.a. boxelder), Norway maples, cottonwoods, black ash, quaking aspen, and big-toothed aspen comprise the overstory while buckthorn, honeysuckle, heath, shad, poison ivy and stag horn sumac fill in the understory. The deciduous woods is perfect for grey squirrels, skunks, woodchucks and raccoons, all of which were tracked on this forested slope. Pileated woodpeckers and white-breasted nuthatches were spotted perched overhead. The diversity of this portion of the Urban Reserve and its landscape-scale connectivity to the Old North End and Intervale suggest that it is providing high ecologic value to Burlington's Waterfront.
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| South-facing slope adjacent to snow dump |
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| Green Ash on the Urban Reserve |
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| Ash-leafed maple, also known as boxelder. |
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| Skunk tracks on March 18, 2013. |
Plant Species observed in the Oak - Black Locust - Maple Forest
Northern red oak, black locust, red maple, boxelder, pitch pine, butternut, grey birch, box elder, buckthorn, quaking aspen, eastern cottonwood, green ash, heath, Norway maple, sugar maple, staghorn sumac, poison ivy, wild grape, multiflora rose.
Northern red oak, black locust, red maple, boxelder, pitch pine, butternut, grey birch, box elder, buckthorn, quaking aspen, eastern cottonwood, green ash, heath, Norway maple, sugar maple, staghorn sumac, poison ivy, wild grape, multiflora rose.
