Carbon

At Harvard Forest, carbon--a crucial building block of life--is studied in the atmosphere, in the soil, and in trees, decaying wood, and freshwater streams. It is a subject of interest to virtually every scientist at the Forest.

Climate change is closely linked to a global increase in carbon dioxide from human sources. Many of the Forest's long-term experiments seek to understand how forests, plants, and animals respond to--and may help mitigate--these changes.

Carbon studies include:

• the world's longest continuous record of carbon exchange between a forest and the atmosphere
• research in soils, where 2/3 of the world's global carbon is stored
• watershed biogeochemistry
• regional work related to public policy