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October 21, 2013

Tracking Success in Regional Conservation Partnerships

RCP map

What makes land conservation succeed in New England?

A new study by Harvard Forest collaborators Bill Labich (from Highstead) and Sydne Record, recently published in the Journal of Forestry, evaluates how regional conservation partnerships (RCPs) protect land from development, and points to the critical role the lead partner organization plays in how quickly conservation can

October 21, 2013

Harvard Forest Welcomes New Senior Ecologist

Jonathan Thompson at Harvard Forest

Jonathan Thompson has joined the Harvard Forest staff as a new Senior Ecologist. He comes to us from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, where he was a Research Scientist and Landscape Ecologist. Before joining the Smithsonian in 2009, Thompson spent two years as a Bullard Fellow and Research Associate here at Harvard Forest. He holds an undergraduate degree

October 18, 2013

Carbon and Water Dynamics in a Deciduous Clearcut

Chris Williams and eddy flux tower

A new Harvard Forest study released today in Global Change Biology provides the first detailed account of how carbon, water, and energy balances shift in the years following a clearcut of a broadleaf temperate forest.

Results show a steady loss of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere from the clearcut area, primarily from exposed soils and decaying wood. The cleared area

September 24, 2013

New Study: Carbon Age in Sprouting Trees

sprouting red maple stump

A comparative study of red maple trees at the Harvard Forest and at Bartlett Experimental Forest in New Hampshire sheds new light on how trees allocate carbon throughout their life cycle--including just after they have been cut. The researchers used radiocarbon dating to "age" the carbon in new sprouts that emerge from stumps when trees are harvested.

The two sites showed

September 4, 2013

Change and Resilience in Northeast Forests

Slab City: 1890 and today

A joint Harvard Forest-Smithsonian study released today in PLOS ONE compares modern forests to their pre-colonial condition in a 9-state analysis of Northeastern forest change. More than 300,000 colonial-era "witness tree" records--never before analyzed at this scale--reveal that although the same types of trees are present today, the number and locations of these trees are dramatically different.

Maples

September 4, 2013

Field Trip for New England Foresters

NESAF field trip, August 2013

On August 24, twenty foresters representing every state in New England toured the Harvard Forest as part of the New England Society of American Foresters' silvicultural working group. Harvard Forest site coordinator and licensed forester Audrey Barker-Plotkin led the day-long tour.

The group got an in-depth look at a number of Harvard Forest's major long-term experiments, including the

September 3, 2013

Harvard Forest Study Named Among Most Influential

British Ecological Society - 100 Influential Papers

A list of 100 Influential Papers published by the British Ecological Society for its centennial celebration includes Harvard Forest director David Foster's 1992 study, "Land use history (1730-1990) and vegetation dynamics in central New-England USA" among the honorees.

The list was comprised by nomination: 100 ecologists were asked to name the paper that they

September 2, 2013

Harvard Forest Is Hiring

Harvard Forest megaplot crew

Harvard Forest seeks to hire a scientist-ecologist, a post-doctoral research associate, and two skilled outdoor laborers. Browse our open positions.

August 21, 2013

It's the Network: Decision-Making by Forest Landowners

Students interview landowners, 2012

A recent study led by Harvard Forest Policy Analyst David Kittredge reveals surprising trends in how private landowners--whose small holdings comprise the majority of forests in the eastern U.S.--make decisions about their land. 

The study shows that most landowners have an informal network of 7-10 people with whom they discuss general issues about their land. For major

August 5, 2013

New Study: Small Streams Transport Key Forest Nutrients

Bigelow Brook - upper pipe

Headwater streams--small tributaries in the outer reaches of a watershed--are the smallest parts of river networks. But collectively, they make up more than half the miles of flowing water in the U.S.  According to a new Harvard Forest study in the journal Ecosystems, headwater streams tell us volumes about the impacts of seasonal storms on forest ecosystems and

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