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Long Term Ecological Research Program
The Harvard Forest Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program is part of a national network of long-term ecological research sites. Within this framework we examine ecological dynamics in the New England region resulting from natural disturbances, environmental change, and human impacts. Emphasis is on processes including:
- Pattern and process in dynamic forest ecosystems
- Climatic change and variability
- Invasive forest insects
- the modern land-use regime
- interacting global change drivers
An interdisciplinary group of PI scientists, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate students from many parts of Harvard and other institutions use three complementary approaches to long-term study:
- historical studies of past conditions and dynamics
- intensive measurements of current structure and function
- measurements of integrated ecosystem response to experimental manipulations under relatively controlled conditions
Long-term studies span a broad range of spatial and temporal scales and seek to:
- develop societally relevant scientific data and information
- train a diverse next generation of researchers, beginning with K-12 and undergraduate students
- develop databases with broad relevance to fundamental ecological issues
- broaden public impacts by engaging the arts and humanities, conservation and policy
Learn more by exploring abstracts from our annual LTER symposium or watching a 2020 documentary by Amy Li (Harvard '20) featuring 30 years of the Harvard Forest LTER Program.
