Research Report Archive at Mohonk Preserve’s Daniel Smiley Research Center

Mohonk Preserve co-founder Daniel Smiley, for whom the Preserve’s Daniel Smiley Research Center was named, dedicated his life to understanding and protecting the Shawangunk Ridge. A thorough scientist and researcher, he meticulously recorded his observations on many subjects, from the flora and fauna of the Preserve to weather and other environmental phenomena.

“As a naturalist, Dan always let nature and serendipity guide our daily path. And, as unpredictable as nature is, our subject was mostly different each day. It was a very special time in my life,” said Mohonk Preserve Director of Research Emeritus Paul Huth. Dan and Paul’s observations were summarized in internal technical research reports still housed in hard-copy format at the DSRC.

Scientists typically share their projects and results in peer-reviewed publications and scientific journals. While a few reports were published in The Chirp, the newsletter of the John Burroughs Natural History Society, Dan rarely published his observations, choosing instead to distribute them personally to colleagues and store them in the archives. But now these reports are being made public — each with a new introduction authored by Paul that gives important and interesting context to the modern reader. “To me, profiling these Research Reports allows our audience to experience the breadth and depth of our interest in nature, which I had the privilege of experiencing with Dan during the 15 or so years of our working together,” said Paul.

Read the Reports with Introductions from Mohonk Preserve Director of Research Emeritus Paul Huth:

  1. Keys to Taste and Morphology: Blueberries and Huckleberries of the Shawangunks
  2. Forest Vegetation Changes: A Plant Community Transition — per stirpes
  3. Mud Pond (North) on Overcliff Road
  4. Traumatic Weather Events that Influenced Mohonk Forests
  5. Shawangunk Forest Fires 1842 to 1982
  6. Temperatures 90° or Above
  7. Halos, Mock Suns, and Coronas
  8. Frost Dates and Growing Season
  9. Check List of Turtles
  10. Prevailing Winds in the Shawangunks
  11. Frost Curls
  12. White Christmas
  13. Snow
  14. Temperatures 0° or below
  15. January Thaws
  16. Gray Squirrels on the Move
  17. Shrews of Ulster County
  18. Sublimation from Mohonk Lake Ice
  19. Vegetable and Fruit Growing in the Shawangunks
  20. The Shawangunk Sky Island-A Research Concept
  21. Of Porcupines and People
  22. Witches’ Brooms in the Shawangunks
  23. American Chestnut: 1984 Status in the Shawangunks
  24. Fish of the Northern Shawangunks
  25. Arbutus Habitat
  26. Gypsy Moths and Man-A Story of Mutual Accommodation
  27. Dendrochronology-Sassafras
  28. Raccoon
  29. Botanical Significance of the Shawangunk Mountains and the Mohonk Preserve
  30. Bedstraw in Ulster County
  31. Predators in Ulster County: From Wolf to Coyote
  32. Wildcats and Other Felines in the Shawangunks
  33. Yellow Lady-slipper
  34. The Passenger Pigeon in the Shawangunks
  35. Cowbird
  36. Shawangunk Plant Species: Decreases and Increases During 100 Years
  37. Blue Jay
  38. Wildlife of the Shawangunk Cliffs
  39. Flowering Dogwood: Decline in the Shawangunks
  40. Common Pheasant
  41. Natural Values of The Mohonk Trust Lands
  42. Slate-colored Junco Studies at Mohonk
  43. Barn Swallow
  44. Owls of the Northern Shawangunks
  45. The Salamanders of Ulster County
  46. Pink Lady-Slipper
  47. Raven
  48. Plant “Pioneering”
  49. The Year Without a Summer — near New Paltz
  50. Wood Rat
  51. Rock Dove
  52. Turnpikes and Taverns in the Shawangunks
  53. Resource Industries of the Shawangunks
  54. Living Stumps of Hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.)
  55. White-tailed Deer
  56. Wood as a Shawangunk Resource
  57. The Shawangunk Hermit’s Hut
  58. Bats of Ulster County
  59.  Azalea “May Apple”
  60. Zaidee’s Bower
  61. Return of the Fisher
  62. Mohonk Poultry Farm
  63. Some Flowering Plants Which Lack Chlorophyll in the Northern Shawangunks

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