Lye Brook Wilderness Sign -Projects-    -Members-   -Meetings-   -Resources-  

Lye Brook Wilderness Area is unique in that it is the only Class I Wilderness Area in Vermont, and includes a rich archive of existing monitoring and research data. The Lye Brook Subcommittee of the Vermont Monitoring Cooperative connects researchers and land managers interested in Lye Brook. While interest remains high, the activity of the subcommittee has varied over the decades. Reconstituted at the 2013 Vermont Monitoring Cooperative Annual Conference, the Subcommittee regularly convenes meetings of key partners in an ongoing collaboration to identify priority areas for research and monitoring, and maintain a list of activities (past, present and planned) at the intensive monitoring site.

Key Lye Brook Projects from the FEMC Archive

  • Biological and Chemical Surveys of Selected Surface Waters in Lye Brook Wilderness Area
    1993-04-01 to 1997-01-01
    Inventory and monitor hydrogeochemcial and biological characteristics of principal water bodies in and around Lye Brook Wilderness Area to determine and document current and future changes to air quality related values (AQRV).
  • Clean Air Status and Trend Network (CASTNET)
    1988-01-01 to Ongoing
    CASTNET is a national monitoring network established to assess trends in pollutant concentrations, atmospheric deposition, and ecological effects due to changes in air pollutant emissions. Regional CASTNET dry deposition chemistry data from New York and northern New England are archived here.
  • Cross-site Study of Soil Nitrification and Stream Nitrate Export
    2001-09-01 to 2002-12-01
    Examine the link between soil nitrification and stream nitrate export.
  • Effects of Acidic Deposition on Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecosystems of Class I Wilderness Areas
    1994-05-01 to 1996-10-18
    Determine the distribution of areas sensitive to deposition of sulfur and nitrogen; determine the current status of sensitive areas utilizing atmospheric deposition of nitrogen; determine the degree of base cation leaching and aluminum mobilization (use soil, vegetation, land use history assocations to identify impacts); verify deposition thresholds; and assess impacts to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems if under the PSD process.
  • Federal Forest Inventory and Analysis Data for Vermont
    1983-01-01 to Ongoing
    A summary of the latest USDA Forest Inventory and Analysis data for the state of Vermont. The network of randomly distributed inventory plots are designed to capture broad temporal changes in the condition of the nation’s forest resource. Spatial coverages of species distribution, extent of forest cover and biomass compliment the yearly data summaries to capture an unbiased estimated of the state of Vermont's forests.
  • Fine Particle Monitoring: Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE)
    1988-09-01 to Ongoing
    Furtherance of a national goal that calls for “the prevention of any future, and the remedying of any existing, impairment of visibility in mandatory Class I federal areas which impairment results from manmade air pollution.” The Regional Haze Rule (RHR) expanded this mandate by requiring monitoring in locations representative of the 156 visibility-protected federal Class I areas. IMPROVE was designated as the visibility monitoring network to be used to carry out this responsibility.
  • Forest Health Monitoring: North American Maple Project
    1988-06-01 to Ongoing
    Annual measurement of sugar maple forest stands to determine tree condition, trends and possible causes of sugar maple decline. Assess the variation in within-season timing of measurements, using same plot design as in the National Forest Health Monitoring Program (NFHM). Initially part of a cooperative monitoring program with other states and Canada, since 2002 Vermont has measured these plots independently for internal use. NAMP is primarily an overstory/forest health monitoring program but they have collected regeneration data beginning in 1998.
  • Forest Inventory of Lye Brook Wilderness Area
    1994-01-01 to 1994-12-31
    Conduct a SILVEX forest inventory of the Lye Brook Wilderness Area.
  • Green Mountain National Forests Long-term Ecosystem Monitoring Project (LEMP)
    2008-08-29 to Ongoing
    This project is a 50-year monitoring effort to examine the long-term effects of broad-scale environmental changes--particularly changes in climate, air quality, soil health, and vegetation, in the Green Mountain National Forests.
  • Incidence of Ozone and Its Effects on Vegetation in Lye Brook Wilderness Area: Monitoring ozone concentrations
    1989-05-30 to 1994-09-01
    To monitor ozone concentrations near and within Lye Brook Wilderness (LBW) and relate these concentrations to the degree of injury to vegetation within LBW.
  • Incidence of Ozone and Its Effects on Vegetation in Lye Brook Wilderness Area: Ozone effects on Vegetation in the Lye Brook Wilderness Area
    1988-04-01 to 1995-08-30
    To monitor ozone concentrations near and within Lye Brook Wilderness (LBW) and relate these concentrations to the degree of injury to vegetation within LBW.
  • Land Use History of the Lye Brook Wilderness Area
    1993-01-01 to 1993-12-31
    Document historical ownership, land use, and natural history of the Lye Brook Wilderness Area through oral histories.
  • Lichens and Air Quality in the Lye Brook Wilderness Area
    1993-07-01 to 1993-08-30
    Collect lichens for a lichen species list; collect lichens for elemental analysis; study the health and distributions of species most sensitive to air pollution; and assess the effects of air quality on lichens.
  • Long-term Monitoring of Acid Sensitive Lakes
    1982-03-01 to Ongoing
    Long term monitoring of chemistry in acid lakes in the Lye Brook Wilderness. In addition, limited baseline sampling of Lye Brook Meadows, Little Mud Pond, Bourn Brook, Lye Brook, Branch Pond Brook and Winhall River for water chemistry was undertaken in the 1990s. The goal is to determine the present biological and chemical characteristics of principal water bodies in and around Lye Brook Wilderness Area so that changes to air quality related values (AQRV) can be documented.
  • Lye Brook - Wildlife
    1995-01-01 to 1995-12-31
    Quantify wildlife habitat type and extent.
  • Lye Brook Area Ecological Land Type Classification
    1993-02-26 to 1995-12-31
    This project performed extensive sampling in the Lye Brook Wilderness are to classify ecological communities based on an integration of soils, vegetation & physiographic data. These communities were then mapped.
  • Ozone Bioindicator Plant Monitoring
    1994-06-01 to Ongoing
    Detect ozone injury on sensitive native plants, record first occurence data for each species, and evaluate the maximum severity of the damage.
  • Sentinel Stream Monitoring
    2000-01-01 to Ongoing
    Monitoring the long-term effects of climate change on macroinvertebrate communities in pristine reference streams.
  • Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN)
    2000-09-13 to Ongoing
    The Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) is a comprehensive, nationwide soil moisture and climate information system designed to provide data to support natural resource assessments and conservation activities. Administered by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) through the National Water and Climate Center (NWCC), in cooperation with the NRCS National Soil Survey Center, the system focuses on agricultural areas of the U.S. monitoring soil temperature and soil moisture content at several depths, soil water level, air temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, wind, precipitation, barometric pressure, and more.
  • Vermont Forest Health Monitoring
    1991-06-01 to 2021-12-31
    The Forest Health Monitoring Program was established in 1991 as a joint effort between the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation (FPR) and the Vermont Monitoring Cooperative (VMC) (as of March 2017 renamed to Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative (FEMC)) to monitor the condition of a range of tree species in Vermont. Plot design follows the structure set by the National Forest Health Monitoring Program with additional metrics added to reflect improvements in monitoring technologies and additions to monitoring objectives.
  • Vermont Long-Term Soil Monitoring Program
    2002-01-01 to Ongoing
    Long-term monitoring of forest soils is necessary to understand the effects of continued environmental change, including climate change, atmospheric deposition of metals, and recovery from acidic precipitation. A monitoring program was initiated in 2002 at five protected forest sites in Vermont, three in Mt. Mansfield State Forest and two in the Lye Brook Wilderness Area. Every 5 years at each site, ten soil pits are dug and sampled from subplots in a 50 × 50-m plot.
  • Vermont Statewide Aerial Sketchmapping of Tree Defoliation, Mortality and other Damages
    1980-01-01 to Ongoing
    Aerial sketch mapping of defoliation, mortality, or other symptoms is a statewide survey conducted to detect tree damage, to determine its cause, and to maintain maps showing the location and extent of damage.

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