Benton Taylor (OEB) to Explore How Warming, CO2, and Drought Shape Forest Carbon Storage

Benton Taylor, Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and Faculty Fellow at the Arnold Arboretum, has launched an ambitious research project at Harvard Forest to examine how temperate forests respond to climate change. Supported by his National Science Foundation Career Grant, Taylor’s study, the Forest Responses to Warming Atmospheric CO2 and Drought (FORWARD) experiment, will investigate how changing climate conditions affect forest ecosystems. The factorial experiment will focus on understanding how forests adapt to conditions such as rising temperatures, increased carbon dioxide (CO2), and drought.

Taylor’s experiment will use existing Harvard Forest infrastructure to manipulate certain environmental factors at the field site, leveraging advanced monitoring technology. By installing infrared heating lamps, CO2 systems, and drought simulation equipment, his team will study the individual and combined impacts of warming, elevated CO2, and water scarcity on multiple tree species and their soil microbes. These variables mimic the changes forests are likely to face over the coming decades, helping scientists predict how forests will function in a warming world.

A key goal of the FORWARD experiment is to observe how different tree-microbe symbioses—such as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM), ectomycorrhizal (EM), and nitrogen-fixing (N-fixer) associations—respond to climate stressors. Taylor’s team is exploring how different factors affect tree growth, soil health, and the forest’s overall capacity to capture and store carbon. The results will provide critical insights into how temperate forests may shift under future climate conditions and how these ecosystems can continue to support the global carbon cycle.

Taylor’s research could have significant implications for forest management and climate policy, offering strategies to preserve forest ecosystems and their role in carbon storage. His work at Harvard Forest exemplifies the importance of long-term, field-based studies in addressing complex environmental challenges and helping shape a sustainable future.