How can looking down at the ground help with tree identification? As Tyler Van Fleet demonstrates, leaf litter and mast (e.g. acorns and other nuts) can be your friend when it comes to tree ID during the leaf-off season.

Imagine if leaf litter never decomposed. The leaf piles would bury the trees! In this vlog, Karl VonBerg digs through the leaf litter layer and into the duff (i.e., organic matter or the O-horizon) to demonstrate the transition from leaves to soil.

Did you know that one-fourth (25%) of a tree’s biomass is in its roots? Tyler Van Fleet explains how streamside trees and their roots help to stabilize stream banks and protect water quality.

A tree toppled over in the stream isn’t necessarily a bad thing for water quality. Tyler Van Fleet explains how large wood regulates flood flows and provides habitat for aquatic life.

Eastern hemlock trees along streams provide many benefits for water quality, including stream bank stabilization, water temperature regulation (i.e., keeping streams shady and cool), and in-stream habitat for aquatic life. Tyler Van Fleet explains these benefits and shares some past and present challenges for eastern hemlock trees.

Karl VonBerg shares a virtual woods walk along a quiet brook at the Nature Conservancy’s West Branch Preserve in Hamden, NY.

Woods walks are good for you, both in body and in mind. That’s what shinrin yoku, or forest bathing, is all about. Come along as Karl VonBerg shares one of his favorite forest bathing spots, the mature hemlock-white pine stand at the Nature Conservancy’s West Branch Preserve in Hamden, NY.

You can glean a lot of information about a timber harvest just by taking a stroll through it after the fact. Don’t believe me? Just follow along with Karl VonBerg on the new MyWoodlot vlog and see for yourself.

Can a native be invasive? In this MyWoodlot vlog, Jess Alba talks about New York fern, its penchant for dominating the understory, and when you might intervene to give other native plants a chance to grow.  

With a bit of experience, sometimes you can identify a tree just by the look of its bark. Tyler VanFleet knew immediately what tree she was looking at when she saw bark that looked like burnt potato chips.

When our tissue is damaged -- through a cut, bruise, or burn -- humans heal. But how do trees deal with injures?

In the new MyWoodlot vlog, you’ll learn about the components of the water cycle from a headwater stream in the Croton Watershed, which supplies 10% of New York City’s drinking water. Also, what’s the secret to NYC having such a high-quality water supply?

Beech trees are an important wildlife food source in the eastern U.S. and Canada. Check out what Karl VonBerg discovered about this while on a spring walk.

Karl VonBerg found a patch of spring ephemeral plants called mayapples in a woods that was recently harvested. Never seen or heard about mayapples?

So, you’re walking through the northern woods in late springtime, and you find a tree that’s been almost entirely stripped of its bark near the base. What do you think happened? Check out the new MyWoodlot vlog by Karl VonBerg to find out!

In this MyWoodlot vlog, Jess Alba demonstrates how to identify Japanese barberry, an invasive plant species. She covers methods of barberry removal and how this benefits forest ecology and your health.

Our front lawn is steep enough that mowing it would be very difficult, maybe even dangerous. We chose to let it grow and we were pleasantly surprised.