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February 1, 2008

New Harvard Forest Publication: Invasive Species Distribution and Historical Land Use

Despite the recognized importance of historical factors in controlling many native species distributions, few studies have incorporated historical landscape changes into models of invasive species distribution and abundance. We surveyed 159 currently forested sites for the occurrence and abundance of Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry), an invasive, non-native shrub in forests of the northeastern U.S., relative to modern environmental conditions, contemporary

February 1, 2008

Harvard Forest Schoolyard Students Give Presentation to the Mass. Secretary of Energy and the Environment

Schoolyard Presentation

Three sixth-grade students who participated in Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology projects in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades, gave a presentation to Ian Bowles, Secretary of Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA). The students from the JR Briggs Elementary School in Ashburnham shared their experiences in the field-based ecological research projects related to Vernal Pools, Leaf Phenology and the Hemlock

February 1, 2008

Harvard Forest on NPR's Climate Connections

Dan Charles of National Public Radio produced a program aired on December 31, 2007. He captures the work being done here at Harvard forest and helps reveal to the listener the importance of the research. Listen to the story and watch the audio photo show.

January 1, 2008

New Harvard Forest Publication: Prey Availability and Its Effect On Carnivorous Plants

Former Harvard Forest Bullard Fellow Elizabeth Farnsworth and Harvard Forest Senior Ecologist Aaron Ellison examine scaling relationships among leaf traits of 10 species of pitcher plants (Sarracenia species) fed different quantities of insect prey. Increased prey availability increased photosystem efficiencey (as expressed by the ratio of Fv/Fm), chlorophyll content, and photosynthetic rate. It also led to a shift from P-

January 1, 2008

LTER releases Decadal Science Plan

The Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network, www.lternet.edu, has released its new Decadal Science Plan, which maps out the Network's science agenda for the next 10 years. Titled "Integrative Science for Society and the Environment(ISSE): A Plan for Research, Education, and Cyberinfrastructure in the U.S. Long-Term Ecological Research Network," the plan makes an ambitious call for research that

January 1, 2008

Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology Participants win 2007 Teachers of the Year Awards

We are proud to announce that both the Massachusetts Audubon Society's and the Nashua River Watershed Association's 2007 Teacher of the Year awards were given to Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology participants!

 Tewksbury High School teacher, Elaine Senechal (photo on left) won the Massachusetts Audubon Conservation Teacher of

January 1, 2008

Harvard Forest Policy Analyst Receives Award from the Society of American Foresters

The New England section of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) has announced that David Kittredge has been elected Fellow to the Society for 2007. SAF recognizes members who have provided outstanding contributions to the Society over a sustained period and have distinguished themselves in the forestry profession with the title Fellow. There are only 38 Fellows in

December 1, 2007

New Harvard Forest Publication: The Effect of Land Conservation on Development

What effect do protected lands have on land conservation or development nearby in the surrounding landscape? Using information on land cover and land protection over time for three sites (western North Carolina, central Massachusetts, and central Arizona), this paper aimed to answer this question. At all sites, newly protected conservation areas tended to cluster close to preexisting protected areas. Land

December 1, 2007

New Harvard Forest Publication: Analytic Web Project

The Analytic Web project, a long-term collaboration between ecologists at Harvard Forest and computer scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is developing methods to ensure that scientific data analyses are sound and reproducible. This paper considers how such methods might be applied to a complex, real-time system for measuring the movement of water through a small forested watershed at

December 1, 2007

New grant for climate change research

The Department of Energy has awarded $3.4 Million to a four-university consortium that includes Harvard University's Harvard Forest, North Carolina State, the University of Tennessee, and the University of Vermont for a four-year study of the effects of climate change on the ecological dynamics of ants and other soil invertebrates. In early 2008, ten 5-meter (16-foot) diameter open-top chambers will

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