Publications for Sale at Harvard Forest

Books | Diorama Slides | Harvard Forest Papers

Purchasing items from the Harvard Forest can be accomplished in the following ways:

• on-line (where links are available) or
• sending a check payable
  Harvard University
  324 N. Main Street
  Petersham, MA 01366
  for the amount of the book, plus $5 shipping and handling

Books

Agrarian Landscapes in Transition
Charles Redman and David R. Foster
The introduction, spread, and abandonment of agriculture represents the most pervasive alteration of the earth's environment in recorded history. This new volume edited by Charles Redman from Arizona State University and David Foster from Harvard Forest, draws on research at six U.S. Long-Term Ecological Research sites, to describe what happens when humans alter natural ecological regimes through agricultural practices. Although each research site has its own unique agricultural history, patterns emerge that help us understand the impact of our actions on the earth, and how the earth pushes back.
Purchase Price: $35 when purchased through Harvard Forest

Vernal Pools: Natural History and Conservation
Elizabeth Colburn.
Vernal pools are small woodland ponds that are flooded in springtime by melting snow and rainfall. They range from seasonal pools that contain water for only a few months in spring, to semi-permanent ponds that dry up only occasionally. Vernal pools provide habitat for a host of animal species that do not occur in permanent waters where there are fish as predators. The kinds of animals found in a given pool vary depending on how long water is present, and different species have different strategies for surviving when the pools are dry. Hundreds of thousands of terrestrial amphibians that live in the woods migrate to vernal pools early each spring to breed, and a wide variety of crustaceans, molluscs, aquatic insects, and other invertebrates complete their life cycles in these tiny aquatic ecosystems.
Purchase Price: $25 when purchased through Harvard Forest.

A Primer of Ecological Statistics.
Nicholas J. Gotelli & Aaron M. Ellison. 2004
A Primer of Ecological Statistics explains fundamental material in probability theory and experimental design for ecologists and environmental scientists. The book is designed to serve as either a stand-alone or supplementary text for upper division undergraduate or graduate courses in ecological and environmental statistics, ecology, environmental science, environmental studies, or experimental design. The Primer also could be used for short-courses or workshops for conservation biologists, and environmental managers. The book emphasizes a general introduction to probability theory and provides a detailed discussion of specific designs and analyses that are typically encountered in ecology and environmental science. Topics include probability, statistical distributions, hypothesis testing, probability values, Bayesian analysis, experimental and sampling design, data archiving, regression, analysis of variance, categorical data, and multivariate analysis. A comprehensive glossary, a mathematical appendix on matrix algebra, and extensively annotated tables and figures are included.
Purchase Price: $35 when purchased through Harvard Forest.

Forests in Time The Environmental Consequences of 1000 Years of Change in New England
David R. Foster and John D. Aber, eds.
Forests in Time offers a unique look at combining history and science in ecological studies and environmental management and applies this approach to one of the most remarkably transformed landscapes in North America: the New England countryside. Written in accessible prose and profusely illustrated with photographs, maps, and graphs, the book relates the history of changes in New England and then explores the results of integrated studies and experiments in this largely forested landscape.
Purchase price: $25 Hard Cover, $20 Soft Cover when purchased through Harvard Forest, $45 from Amazon or Yale University Press.
Forests in Time editorial comments and further Description

New England Forests Through Time: Insights from the Harvard Forest Dioramas
David R. Foster and John F. O'Keefe
Over the past 300 years New England's landscape has been transformed. The forests were cleared; the land was farmed intensively through the mid-nineteenth century and then was allowed to reforest naturally as agriculture shifted west. Today, in many ways the region is more natural than at any time since the American Revolution. This fascinating natural history is essential background for anyone interested in New England's ecology, wildlife, or landscape. In New England Forests through time these historical and environmental lessons are told through the world-renowned dioramas in Harvard's Fisher Museum. These remarkable models have introduced New England's Landscape to countless visitors and have appeared in many ecology, forestry, and natural history texts. This first book based on the dioramas conveys the phenomenal history of the land, the beauty of the models, and new insights into nature.
Purchase price: $9.95
New England Forest Through Time is available for on-line purchase

Stepping Back to Look Forward: A History of the Massachusetts Forest
Charles H. W. Foster, Editor
Written to celebrate the centennial of the forest and parks system in Massachusetts, this multiauthor volume provides an overview of the ecological, economic, social, and educational history of forest in the Commonwealth.
Purchase price: $25
Stepping Back to Look Forward is available for on-line purchase

Thoreau's Country: Journey Through a Transformed Landscape
David R. Foster
Insights into the conservation and ecology of the New England Landscape based on an interpretation of its history, using as a source the journal writings of Henry David Thoreau.
Purchase Price: Hardcover: $30 Softcover: $16
Thoreau's Country is available on-line

Atlantic White Cedar Wetlands of Massachusetts
Glenn Motzkin
An overview of Atlantic White Cedar wetlands in Massachusetts including their current and historic distributions, ecology, vegetation patterns, site characteristics and existing and potential threats.
Purchase Price: $10

The Northeast's Changing Forest
Lloyd Irland
A wealth of information on the current status and history of forest areas and management issues across the northeastern United States. Purchase Price: $50
The Northeast's Changing Forest is available on-line

A Botanist's Window on the Twentieth Century
Richard H. Goodwin
A fascinating biography of Professor Goodwin who grew up in New England, traveled extensively, taught at Connecticut College, and played a significant role in the development of The Nature Conservancy.
Purchase Price: $10

Slides

Three sets of slides of the Dioramas are available. Each set consists of 10 or 11 slides of the dioramas presenting a particular subject
Each set is $5.00, plus shipping and handling of $3.00 for up to three slide sets.

Set 1 - History of Land Use. Successive views of a typical north-central Massachusetts landscape as it changes from old-growth forest, through agricultural clearing, farm abandonment and reforestation.

Set 2 - Forest Management. Depictions of various forest management techniques appropriate for small woodlots in New England.

Set 3 - Forest Conservation Issues. Depiction of conservation issues including old-growth forest, wildlife habitat, erosion, and fire. Includes illustration of stages in the construction of the dioramas.

For use in Powerpoint presentations, Diorama images are available in jpg format.
For publication quality images of the Dioramas, please contact John O'Keefe, Museum Coordinator at jokeefe@fas.harvard.edu

Harvard Forest Papers

The Harvard Forest Flora. An Inventory, Analysis and Ecological History. Harvard Forest Paper no.28. 2008
Jerry Jenkins, former Bullard Fellow and researcher with the Wildlife Conservation Society, Glenn Motzkin, ecologist at Harvard Forest, and Kirsten Ward, a former summer student at the Harvard Forest, have completed a study of the vascular plants of the Harvard Forest. The study compares the results of field studies that the authors conducted between 2004 and 2007 with previous three previous field studies in the 20th century. It documents the present and historical floras, gives a quantitative analysis of their structure and dynamics, and relates their changes to disturbance and environmental change.

Harvard Forest Flora is available for download

Journal of Biogeography: Special Issue, Vol. 29, Numbers 10/11. Insights form Historical Geography to Ecology and Conservation: Lessons from the New England Landscape.
David R. Foster (Ed.). 2002
This special issue contains nineteen papers based on research led by Harvard Forest. These articles are organized thematically into three sections: a series of case studies (10 papers) that apply historical-geographical approaches to a range of ecological questions and scales; a focused examination (5 papers) of the consequences of one historically important and unfortunately pressing ecological issue - the introduction of exotic pests and pathogens; and the application (4 papers) of historical geographical insights to major issues in conservation and land management.
Purchase Price: $10 when purchased through Harvard Forest.
Individual articles can be downloaded here.

The Illusion of Preservation: A Global Environmental Argument for the Local Production of Natural Resources
Mary M. Berlik, David B. Kittredge and David R. Foster
The United States and other affluent countries consume vast quantities of global natural resources, but contribute proportionately less to the extraction of many raw materials. This imbalance is due, in part, to domestic policies intended to protect the environment. Ironically, developed nations are often better equipped to extract resources in an environmentally prudent manner than the major suppliers. Thus, although citizens of affluent countries may imagine that preservationist domestic policies are conserving resources and protecting nature, heavy consumption rates necessitate resource extraction elsewhere and oftentimes under weak environmental oversight. A major consequence of this "illusion of natural resource preservation" is greater global environmental degradation than would arise if consumption were reduced and a larger portion of production was shared by affluent countries. This paper considers some implications of the consumption, management, and conservation of forests and wood at a local and global scale.
Out of Print
Illusions is available as a PDF download

History and Dynamics of a Ridgetop Pitch Pine Community, Mount Everett, Massachussetts
G. Motzkin, D. A. Orwig, and D.R. Foster Pine barrens are among the highest priorities for conservation in the Northeast because they are uncommon, support numerous rare species, and are highly threatened by development and by altered disturbance regimes. As part of an ongoing investigation of ridgetop barrens, this paper addresses the history, age structure, and dynamics of the pitch pine-oak communities on the summit of Mt. Everett in the town of Mt. Washington, Massachusetts. The site supports unusual dwarf pitch pines, which are rare in the eastern U.S.
Purchase Price: $5
History and Dynamics is available as a PDF download

Thinking in Forest Time - A strategy for the Massachusetts Forest
C.H.W. Foster and D.R. Foster
A brief review of how Massachusetts forest have arrived at their future and some suggested steps to implement this vision.
Purchase Price: $3
Thinking in Forest Time is available as a PDF download

Historical Influences on the Landscape of Martha's Vineyard - Perspectives on the Management of the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest
D.R. Foster and G. Motzkin
A comprehensive vegetation history of Martha's Vineyard with special emphasis on the M.F. Correllus State Forest Followed by suggestions for the conservation and management of various vegetation types on the forest.
Purchase Price: $5
Historical Influences is available as a PDF download