Landscape History of Central New England
Introduction - Ecological Lessons from Forest History
Seven of the Harvard Forest dioramas form a historical series that depicts changes in the New England landscape over the past 300 years at one location. The scene was designed to depict all the important transformations of the landscape in the upland area of central Massachusetts since the pre-European-settlement period.
- Pre-Settlement Forest
- An Early Settler Clears a Homestead
- Height of Forest Clearing and Agriculture
- Farm Abandonment
- "Old-Field" White Pine Forest on Abandoned Farmland
- "Old-Field" White Pine is Succeeded by Hardwoods
- A Vigorously Growing Forest of Hardwoods
- The Modern Forest Landscape (photograph by David Foster)
The ecological and historical interpretation of the details and significance of these transformations has changed little since Fisher and his colleagues designed the dioramas in the 1920s and 1930s. Importantly, the concepts presented in the dioramas provide the basis for much current understanding and research ecology, conservation biology, and forest management at the Harvard Forest and beyond.
One of the major lessons that emerges from the dioramas is that in order to understand our forests today we need to become deeply knowledgeable about their particular history. This historical perspective shows us that our forests have always been characterized by change and carry a strong cultural legacy of past human activity. This understanding should inform our predictions of future forest development, as well as our attempts to conserve and manage them.
Pre-Settlement Forest - 1700 A.D.
In the pre-settlement forest, natural variation across sites and ongoing natural and human disturbance processes led to differences in age, density, size, and species of trees across a wide range of sites. Notice the large trees and large fallen trunks on the right in the diorama. Compare them with the smaller, younger trees, including species intolerant of shade such as paper birch and red cedar, on the left.
Factors controlling the pattern and dynamics of the landscape included:
- Natural disturbance:
- hurricanes
- other wind storms
- ice storms
- pathogens (insects and disease)
- fires ignited by lightning strikes
- Variation in soils and water availability:
- sandy, droughty soils; moister till soils; shallow soils with bedrock outcrops
- flooding by beavers
- annual fluctuations in the water table
- Human activity:
- clearings for Indian villages and fields
- Indian burning of forests to improve hunting
An Early Settler Clears a Homestead
1740 A.D.
For most of the New England region, European settlement occurred largely during the 18th century. Through forest clearing, hunting, and trapping, the abundance of many species changed rapidly and the wilderness was gradually transformed into a domesticated rural landscape.
Height of Forest Clearing and Agriculture
1830 A.D.
The peak of deforestation and agricultural activity across most of New England occurred from 1830 to 1880. Across much of New England, 60 to 80 percent of the land was cleared for pasture, tillage, orchards and buildings. Small remaining areas of woodland were subjected to frequent cuttings for lumber and fuel.
Farm Abandonment
1850 A.D.
Beginning in the mid-1800s and continuing for more than a century, farming declined on a broad scale across New England. Abandoned pastures and fields rapidly developed into forests. In central Massachusetts and across much of central New England these forests were dominated by white pines.
"Old-Field" White Pine Forest on Abandoned Farmland
1910 A.D.
As the "old-field" stands of white pine reached middle age, it became evident that they contained a valuable and rapidly growing crop of second-growth timber. As this white pine became marketable portable sawmills appeared across central New England. One of the most common and valuable uses of these pines was for "box boards" used to make shipping containers prior to the development of corrugated cardboard in the 1930s.
"Old-Field" White Pine is Succeeded by Hardwoods
1915 A.D.
Clear-cutting of the "old-field" white pines led to the succession of mixed hardwoods across much of the landscape. The inability of white pine to sprout after being cut, in contrast to the prolific sprouting of our hardwood species, facilitated this succession. Patterns of succession enhanced the diversity of forest types, providing a wide range of wildlife habitats.
A Vigorously Growing Forest of Hardwoods
1930 A.D.
One of the characteristic features of the hardwood forest that developed after the clear-cutting of the "old-field" white pines is the predominance of multi-stemmed sprout clumps. Fast-growing species that sprout prolifically -- red oak, red maple, white ash, birches, and black cherry -- are strongly represented. Red oaks are just beginning to overtop the other trees in this view.
The Modern Forest Landscape
(photograph by David Foster)
In the period since the dioramas were constructed, the trends in forest development illustrated in the 1930 model have continued. Remarkable expanses of maturing forest extend across a densely populated landscape in the northeastern United States.
As these forests grow and mature and as dead and decaying wood accumulates on the ground, the forest landscape becomes increasingly natural in appearance and character. With time, too, early successional species decline and more shade-tolerant and long-lived species increase. Still, the legacy of land-use history persists in the distribution of species and the often abrupt transition between forest types. The stonewalls serve as a constant reminder of this land-use history.