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February 1, 2012

2nd Annual Harvard Forest Winter Break Week a Success

Debby Kaspari leading art workshop

Ten Harvard students with concentrations ranging from Linguistics to Biology participated in the immersive Harvard Forest Winter Break Week, "Reading the New England Landscape," from January 15 to 20. Harvard researchers in Paleoecology, Atmospheric Sciences, Natural History, Conservation, and Landscape Design led daily field walks and hands-on activities; renowned artists including former Bullard fellow Debby Kaspari led art and illustration

February 1, 2012

2012 Maple Syrup Forecast

Maple Sugar Bucket

For a long time, botanists have known that freeze-thaw cycles in spring determine sap flow in maple trees. Sugar content in the sap also varies from year to year, but less is known about why. One possibility is that plants only have so much sugar to go around, so years when trees make lots of seeds are followed by years

February 1, 2012

Middle-Holocene Hemlock Dynamics in Northern New England

A group pond coring on canoes

A new paleoecology study by Emerson College/HF scientist Wyatt Oswald and HF director David Foster describes multiple episodes of eastern hemlock population decline ~6,000 years ago in New England. These events precede a major and more often-studied hemlock population decline 5,500 years ago. All of the decline events coincide with indicators of abrupt climate change. The sensitivity of hemlock populations,

February 1, 2012

Highlights from an International Research Collaboration

International Graduate Students

From September 2011 to January 2012, European graduate students Anne-Céline Granjon (France) and Nicky Lustenhouwer
(Netherlands) conducted research at Harvard Forest as part of a collaboration between Harvard University and the Erasmus Mundus Master Programme in Evolutionary Biology (www.evobio.eu). Anne-Céline worked with HF ecologist Kristina Stinson, focusing on the response of common ragweed to climate change. She studied the

January 24, 2012

New Harvard Forest Publication: Presence of HWA reduces hemlock regeneration

Effects of Hemlock woolly adelgid at Harvard Forest

New results by Forest Ecologist Dave Orwig and others show that hemlock stands invaded by the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) experience dramatic reductions in regeneration of new hemlock seedlings, making the insect's destruction difficult to reverse. In extensive surveys of 141 hemlock stands in southern New England, hemlock seedling density declined 71% between 2007 and 2009, while HWA infestation continued

January 24, 2012

Analyzing Abrupt Ecosystem Change

Abrupt ecosystem transitions--major changes brought on when a critical environmental threshold is passed (such the abrupt shift from an oligotropic lake (clear blue) to a eutrophic lake (muddy green))--can significantly and irreversibly alter an ecosystem. Although such shifts are a major concern in this time of rapid environmental change, short-term data constraints have thus far prevented a common understanding of

January 24, 2012

Forest Landowners and Carbon Markets

Landowners in the Woods

A new article in Ecological Economics, co-authored by UMass professor and HF researcher David Kittredge, identifies "barriers to Massachusetts forest landowner participation in carbon markets". Data from 930 landowner surveys show that price is not the most important factor in landowner decisions about carbon markets. Questions about early withdrawal penalties, additionality requirements, and contract length, as well as the

January 24, 2012

New Book: Flora Nova Angliae

Flora Nova  Angliae cover

A comprehensive manual for the identification of native and naturalized plants of New England has recently been published by Yale University Press and is available for purchase at the Harvard Forest at a discounted rate. With more than 1,000 pages of plant information researched and written by Arthur Haines, and 945 illustrations by Gordon Morrison and Harvard Forest Research Associate

January 24, 2012

Former Bullard Fellow Featured in NYT Book Review

A recent book by Jerry Jenkins, former Bullard Fellow, warns of the effects of climate change on the biodiversity of the Adirondack Mountain region. A New York Times book review assesses the book and profiles the author.

January 24, 2012

Pitcher Plants in their Evolutionary Context

Pitcher Plant

Scientists at the Harvard Forest are trying to answer a question that is now more than 100 years old: how did the 11 different species of North American pitcher plant evolve? A new paper by Research Fellow Wyatt Oswald, Research Assistant Elaine Doughty, former Bullard Fellows Gidi and Rina Ne'eman, and Senior Ecologist Aaron Ellison, adds new insight to the

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