Author: blwelch2014

Social Ecological Systems

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I choose the social and ecological factors that I did because they have the largest impact on the Salmon Hole Area. The lower falls controls how much water is able to enter the Salmon Hole below, in turn determining fertility of soils, water level, and flooding. This also effects the amount of wildlife and plant species in the area, in turn effected the types of recreation one is able to participate in. This can drastically change whether citizens of the community would like to spend their time there or if they would rather maintain and preserve another area.

Human History

Humans have inhabited the land of the Winooski Watershed for over 10,000 years. Paleoindians hunted for fish, birds, and mammals such as caribou, wooly mammoths, and mastodons. When horticulture came to the region, the Indians quickly discovered that the flood plains were abundant in nutrients, allowing them to grow massive amounts of crops.

american-mastodon http://images.natureworldnews.com/data/images/full/9687/american-mastodon.jpg

Many years later Samuel de Champlain brought the French into the area in 1609, though it would not be settled by Europeans for another 150 years. In 1786, Ira Allen had the first dam constructed on the Winooski river at the Upper Falls, and the Lower Falls Dam was constructed in 1840. The Lower Falls Dam is the one visible from my phenology site. In 1793, the Allens bought up a large amount of land and through their company, the Onion River Land Company, they began improving land lots throughout the watershed. Ira Allen built up industries close the mouth of the Winooski such as sawmills, a forge, and a gristmill. This was all powered by the Winooski Falls and led to the development of Burlington.

dam https://www.uvm.edu/landscape/learn/Downloads/scrapbooks/winooski_damming.pdf

“Human History.” Winooski River. Friends of the Winooski River, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.

Critters

Throughout my extensive yet meditative time at the Salmon Hole, I have noticed a lack of animals. During the warmer days of September and through the end of October, squirrels and chipmunks are constantly out and about. They were foraging to adequately prepare themselves for the long winter ahead. One day in mid October I did spot a small section of deer tracks that quickly veered of the trail after only ten or so feet. I was not skilled enough to properly find other signs of mammals in the area. I did spot a significant amount of birds, including blue jays, american goldfinch, red breasted nuthatch, american crow, and even the pleasure of seeing a downy woodpecker! I also witnessed a small garter snake bathing in the sun on the rocky outcrop one day! Once I approached it, it quickly wiggled it’s way back into the bush.

Fall Overcomes the Hole

Summer quickly drifted off with the Fall winds, and along with it the forest has seen significant changes. The ground is laden in orange, red, and yellow. With every step a satisfying crunch is released beneath my feet. At this point in mid October more than 70% of the leaves on the perennial plants have made there way to the forest floor, to be decomposed and recycled in the future. Even with the leaves on the ground, the birds are still around. There are not a significant amount, but enough birds flying around to see a few every visit.

Vegetation

The vegetation in the area is extremely diverse, due to the amount of nutrients the river is able to feed the soils when it floods. During my surveying of the area, I was able to find paper birch, striped maple, sugar maple, white oak, yellow birch, basswood, american beech, and buckthorn. The vegetation is very tight and in the under growth area it is filled with smaller plants all trying to reach the sun light. Overall it seems to be a healthy area, that is about to experience a large change in the following weeks due to the coming winter.