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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

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

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

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

July 1, 2009

New Harvard Forest Publications: American Beech Distribution and Disturbance Dynamics

Posy Busby with American Beech Tree

Fagus grandifolia (American Beech) is uncommon along the coast of southern New England, but occasionally forms unusual monodominant stands with higher beech abundance than is typical for inland areas. In this new publication, Posy Busby (former HF MFS student) and HF collaborators document the distribution of beech on Cape Cod and nearby coastal islands, and evaluate environmental and historical factors

July 1, 2009

Earth Day Lecture at Harvard Center for the Environment

Harvard Forest Senior Ecologist Aaron Ellison gave the Earth Day lecture at the Harvard University Center for the Environment in their Biodiversity, Ecology, and Global Change Lecture Series on the topic of "Assembling and restoring ecosystems in a rapidly changing world."

July 1, 2009

Harvard Forest Schoolyard Teachers Honored

Two Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology Teachers received Awards for Excellence in Energy and Environmental Education from The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEA). Secretary Ian Bowles presented the awards to Lisa Shluger of the Fuller Middle School in Framingham and Tiffany Davis of the J.R. Briggs Elementary School in Ashburnham in the Great Hall at the Massachusetts State

July 1, 2009

Director, David Foster, Appointed to Massachusetts Climate Change Committee

David R. Foster was appointed by Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Ian Bowles to the newly formed Climate Change Adaptation Advisory Committe. The Committee will advise the Commonwealth on strategies for adapting to sea level rise, warming temperatures, increased incidence of flood and drought and other predicted effects of climate change. Members are experts from business, academia, and nonprofit

July 1, 2009

Ragweed and Future Climate Change: Putting the Where and When on Wheezing

Harvard Forest ecologists Kristina Stinson and David Foster, in collaboration with Dr. Chris Rogers from the University of Massachusetts School of Public Health, have been awarded $1M from the US Environmental Protection Agency to study the effect of global change on ragweed and human health. The researchers' primary objective will be to determine

June 1, 2009

New Harvard Forest Publication: Abundance of Salamanders At Harvard Forest

Brooks Mathewson (Masters of Forest Science, 2006) published his work on study of salamanders as affected by the anticipated loss of Eastern Hemlock dominated forests due to infestation by Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. This study assessed the relative abundance of the ecologically important terrestrial salamander, Plethodon cinereus Green (Eastern Red-backed Salamander), in five Eastern Hemlock-dominated stands and four mixed deciduous stands

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