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Item Open Access Sugaring & Wildlife: Vermont’s Sugaring Operations and Potential Implications for Wildlife(2026-06-01)The recent expansion of Vermont’s maple sugaring industry has raised questions about how sugaring operations impact wildlife habitat and movement. This study combined a landscape-scale geospatial assessment and a site-level field assessment to evaluate wildlife within sugarbushes across Vermont. Geospatial analyses showed that forests managed for sugaring disproportionately overlap with high-value habitat blocks, interior forests, wildlife corridors, and movement areas for several large mammals, and that sugarbushes occur in naturally sugar maple-dominant habitat. Field surveys at 20 sugarbushes found that these forests were predominantly mid-successional, sugar maple-dominated stands with limited large coarse woody debris and standing dead trees. Wildlife habitat and detections of bird and mammal species differed little between the core and edge of sugarbushes, and tap density and tubing showed inconsistent relationships with wildlife occurrence. No clear evidence was observed that tubing impedes wildlife movement, although effects on moose warrant further study. Results suggest that modern sugaring can support both maple production and wildlife, with opportunities to improve habitat by maintaining forest structural diversity, large standing dead trees, large slash piles, and wetland environments. Future research should further examine species-specific responses to sugaring infrastructure.Item Open Access 12 Steps for Climate Resilience: Managing Your Forest with Climate Change in Mind(2024-06-15)Climate change is reshaping forests across the Northeast through warmer temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, heavier rain events, drought, and shifting disturbance regimes. 12 Steps for Climate Resilience: Managing Your Forest with Climate Change in Mind provides practical, science-based guidance for landowners interested in supporting forest resilience. The guide outlines stewardship strategies that promote healthy soils, diverse and structurally complex forests, successful regeneration, and long-term adaptability while supporting wildlife habitat, water quality, and other ecosystem benefits.Item Embargo Diel patterns and community composition of insect visitors to Platanthera dilatata (Orchidaceae) revealed by time-lapse photography(2026-05-28)1. Pollination ecology in Platanthera (Orchidaceae) remains incompletely understood, even for relatively well-studied species such as Platanthera dilatata. Prior studies have largely focused on identifying pollinators rather than quantifying how visitation rates and community composition vary across the diel cycle and environmental conditions. Floral traits of P. dilatata and previous work suggest that a high proportion of visitation could be from nocturnal moths. 2. Here, we used automated time-lapse cameras to compare insect flower visitation to P. dilatata across the diel cycle at four sites in Vermont, USA. We evaluated >79,000 photos to describe the insect visitor community, determine insect visitation rates and model their drivers, and analyze community composition. 3. Over a single flowering season, we observed a diverse assemblage of insect visitors spanning eight orders, 49 families, and 75 taxa. We recorded 27 previously unreported floral visitors and eight Lepidoptera species carrying pollinia, six of which have not previously been reported as potential pollinators of P. dilatata. 4. Although nocturnal moths were a significant component of the visitor community, floral visitation rates of P. dilatata peaked during the day and at dusk, were significantly lower at night, and were lowest at dawn. Day and dusk periods supported similar visitation rates but differed significantly in community composition, with flies dominating during the day and moths at dusk. 5. These results show that ecologically important visitation occurs beyond daylight hours, and that sampling restricted to daytime can overlook distinct dusk assemblages and significant nocturnal visitors. They also demonstrate the value of camera-based sampling for efficiently capturing insect visitation dynamics across space and time.Item Open Access Finding Old Forests: The Structural Patterns & Distribution of Vermont's Old Growth(2025-05-10)Old forests are ecologically significant yet increasingly rare across the eastern United States. In Vermont, widespread historical land use has obscured their distribution, leaving many stands undocumented. This study investigates the structural characteristics and spatial patterns of late-successional and old-growth forests in Vermont, with a focus on assessing the utility of the Vermont Old Forest Prediction Model, a MaxEnt-based tool designed to identify likely old forest locations. Thirty-three forest sites were sampled using a stratified random approach informed by the model’s suitability scores. Forest structure was measured using standardized inventory methods, and natural community classifications were assigned in the field. Results revealed that dominant tree age was positively correlated with key structural attributes such as large tree density, large tree basal area, and aboveground biomass. No significant structural variation was detected among natural community types. Multivariate analyses showed partial clustering by seral stage but weak overall separation. The prediction model's suitability scores were significantly correlated with dominant tree age, supporting its value for guiding surveys. Five previously undocumented old forests were identified, highlighting the model’s application as a conservation planning tool. This research contributes to a better understanding of old forest structure in Vermont and demonstrates how predictive modeling and field surveys can be integrated to support inventory efforts and conservation strategies.Item Open Access
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