2008 Seminar Schedule

Previous Highlights

Current Weather

23^oF, -5^oC at 8:15pm

Prospect Hill Canopy Webcam

Solar energy output

Research and Education in Ecology, Conservation and Forest Biology

Since 1907 research and education have been the mission of the Harvard Forest, one of the oldest and most intensively studied forests in North America. From a center comprised of 3000 acres of land, research facilities, and the Fisher Museum the scientists, students, and collaborators at the Forest explore topics ranging from conservation and environmental change to land-use history and the ways in which physical, biological and human systems interact to change our earth.

November Highlights

Harvard Forest Hosts SEEDS Field Trip

The Harvard Forest hosted an undergraduate field trip of ESA-SEEDS October 16-19. Nineteen students and two faculty advisors from colleges and universities across the United States participated in the visit, which included a field research tour, mini-investigation from field work to data analysis, career panel, and writing workshop. The opportunity for students and Harvard Forest staff to interact was informative and inspiring.

SEEDS is an education program of the Ecological Society of America. Its mission is to diversify and advance the profession of ecology through opportunities that stimulate and nurture the interest of underrepresented students.

Fisher Museum Volunteers

On Thursday evening, November 20th, the Fisher Museum will host the 17th annual Museum Volunteers Recognition Dinner. This dinner recognizes the time and effort this group of dedicated volunteers donates to allow the Museum to be open on weekends from May through October and to assist visiting school groups throughout the year. If you would like to learn more about the opportunities available at the Museum please contact John O'Keefe, Museum Coordinator, at 978/724-3302 or jokeefe@fas.harvard.edu.

2008-2009 Harvard Forest Bullard Fellows in Forest Research

Harvard Forest is pleased to announce the 2008-2009 Charles Bullard Fellows in Forest Research. The purpose of this fellowship program, established in 1962 by an endowment named after the benefactor Charles Bullard, is to support advanced research and study by persons who show promise of making important contributions, either as scholars or administrators, to forestry defined in its broadest sense as the human use and study of forested environments.

This year's Bullard Fellows were selected from a large pool of international applicants and cover a broad array of forest-related subjects. These nine distinguished practitioners and academics from across the United States and the globe will spend one to two semesters conducting research based in Cambridge or at the Harvard Forest in Petersham. While in residence at Harvard, Fellows interact with faculty and students, give seminars, participate in conferences and symposia and avail themselves of the University's great research resources.

Harvard Forest on the 'T'

A recent ad for the Harvard University Extension School's environmental courses, seen on the 'T', in the Globe and other media, shows Mark Leighton's class 'Conservation Biology and Sustainable Use of Forested Landscapes' (ENVR E-142/W) on a field trip to the Harvard Forest with Mark and Museum Coordinator, John O'Keefe. See the Ad.

New Publication

Disturbance dynamics in Massachusetts Old-growth forests

Natural disturbances strongly influence the dynamics and developmental patterns of forest ecosystems; however, relatively little is known about the historic patterns of natural disturbance for many portions of eastern North America, such as southern New England, where human disturbance has predominated for centuries. Former REU (2000) and Ph.D. student (2007) Tony D'Amato along with HF forest ecologist David Orwig analyzed dendroecological data from the eighteen largest remaining old-growth stands in western Massachusetts ranging in proximity from 1-60 km apart to characterize the historic stand and landscape-level patterns of natural disturbance. Results indicate that disturbance regimes for these systems were dominated by relatively frequent, low intensity disturbances (average 5.0 ± 0.2 % canopy area disturbed per decade)operating somewhat randomly on the landscape. Across the study areas, most decadal disturbances (86.2%) involved less than 10 % canopy loss. There was no evidence of stand-replacing disturbances during the period examined (1700-1989) and the maximum canopy area disturbed in any given decade was 26.3%. Comparisons of these decadal patterns with model simulations of past hurricane events and historical documents suggest that broad-scale disturbances, such as hurricanes and ice storms, resulted in common disturbance peaks and subsequent recruitment peaks at spatially disparate areas in the 1790s, 1870s, 1900s and 1920s. Conversely, the lack of synchrony in proximate areas during these events highlights the patchy nature of these disturbances on the landscape.

D'Amato, A.W. and D.A. Orwig. 2008. Stand and Landscape-level Disturbance Dynamics in Old-Growth Forests in Western Massachusetts. Ecological Monographs, 78(4), 2008, pp. 507–522.