Trip A: Stone Wall, Charcoal Hearth, Mill Dam and Beaver Legacies in Northeastern Connecticut

Southern New England preserves a remarkable history of land use-land cover change characterized by ~250 years of deforestation and agricultural expansion in the late 17th to mid-20th centuries, followed by a dramatic reduction in agriculture and forest regrowth. This transformation on hillslopes coincided with the construction, use and eventual abandonment of mill dams along stream and river corridors, which were built to fuel industries such as the production of textiles, grain, and lumber. This field trip will explore landforms and soil impacts associated with historic land use, mill dams, and beaver activity on rivers in northeastern CT.  We will highlight examples and discuss past and present research being done at UConn to study and advance our understanding of these processes.

Leaders: William Ouimet, Samantha Dow

Max. number of participants: 50