Harvard Forest's "Mega-plot" Nears Completion

Harvard Forest researchers have nearly finished a major forest census begun in summer 2010 on a 35-hectare "mega-plot" on Prospect Hill. The mega-plot is part of a global array of plots to explore ecosystem processes, jointly established by CTFS and Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum and recently expanded by the Smithsonian Institution's Global Earth Observatory (SIGEO). Ecologist Dave Orwig and five 2-person crews have set out to measure, tag, and map every woody stem greater than 1 cm diameter in the 85+ acre area. Over two summers, they have measured a total of 77,935 stems. Approximately 3 hectares of swamp forest remain and will be sampled this winter. Dominated by eastern hemlock and northern hardwood species, the Harvard Forest mega-plot will be an intriguing comparison with several other plots at similar latitudes in North America and China.