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August 2009

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August 1, 2009

Graphing Data from Schoolyard Research

Dr. Betsy Colburn Harvard Forest Schoolyard Science Program has completed Show Me a Picture, Tell Me a Story: An Introduction to Graphs for the Analysis of Ecological Data from Schoolyard Science Research Studies. This guide for teachers discusses the use of graphs to interpret ecological data collected in schoolyard research studies. The manual covers ways of organizing data,

August 1, 2009

Butterflies and Climate Change

In this study, which was part of Shannon Pellini's (Harvard Forest Postdoctoral fellow) dissertation work under the advisement of Jessica Hellmann at the University of Notre Dame, Shannon and colleagues performed field and laboratory reciprocal translocation experiments with skipper (Erynnis propertius) and swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon) butterfly populations from Oregon and Vancouver Island. The aim of the study was to determine

August 1, 2009

Orchid Added to Harvard Forest Flora

Purple Fringed Orchid

After even the most careful botanical survey, the woods reveal new and lovely surprises. Purple-fringed orchid, first observed in the Simes Tract of Harvard Forest in July 2008, was tentatively identified this season as a species never-before recorded at the Harvard Forest: Platanthera grandiflora, the greater purple fringed orchid. While its congener, the lesser purple fringed orchid (Platanthera psycodes) was

August 1, 2009

Harvard Forest Studies Rare Pitch Pine Communities

Dwarf Pitch Pine Cover

Harvard Forest scientists Glenn Motzkin, David Orwig, and David Foster recently used a combination of dendroecological, historical, and field studies to examine the long-term history, development, and vegetation dynamics of 3 dwarf P. rigida (pitch pine) locations in the southern Taconic mountains of southwest Massachusetts and northwestern Connecticut. All three sites supported communities dominated (80 to 98% relative importance) by