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July 1, 2006

New Harvard Forest Publication: Moth Herbivory of Pitcher Plants

This paper summarizes the independent research project of 2004 Summer Research Program student Dan Atwater, in which he examined changes in the distribution of two noctuid moths that feed on pitcher plants at Tom Swamp. Large plants were preferentially attacked by larvae of Exyra fax but the pitcher-plant borer Papaipema appassionata was not so selective. We

July 1, 2006

New Harvard Forest Publication: Foliage Decomposition in Forests Affected By Hemlock Wooly Adelgid

Recent Research Assistant Richard Cobb, working with collaborators including Harvard Forest Ecologist David Orwig and former HF Summer Reserach Program student Steve Currie, examined the impacts of the introduced insect, the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) on green litter decomposition in New England hemlock forests. This study investigated both the direct effects of HWA feeding and indirect changes in microclimate on

July 1, 2006

New Harvard Forest Publication: Analytic Web Modeling

Ecologists are interested in synthesizing a diverse array of complex datasets to address novel ecological questions, but Winter Walkupactually synthesizing datasets to produce reliable and reproducible results is a challenging task. A team of ecologists from the Harvard Forest and computer scientists from the University of Massachusetts have developed formal representations, known as

July 1, 2006

Ph.D. student Sydne Record receives Gilgut Fellowship

Sydne Record, a Ph.D. student in the Plant Biology program at the University of Massachusetts who is doing her dissertation research at the Harvard Forest with Senior Ecologist Aaron Ellison, has received the 2006-2007 Gilgut Fellowship from the Plant Biology program. This fellowship provides a full year of stipend support and release from teaching so that Sydne can

July 1, 2006

Professor Emeritus Receives Centennial Medallion Award

Harvard Forest Professor Emeritus P. Barry Tomlinson received the Botany Society of America's Centennial Medallion Award. Professor Barry TomlinsonThe award honors those who have make significant contributions to the advancement of the botanical sciences as well as contributions to the Botanical Society of America. 

June 1, 2006

New Harvard Forest Publication: Conservation & Harvesting In Massachusetts

Forest harvesting is an important, ongoing disturbance that affects the composition, structure, and ecological function of the majority of the world's forests. However, few studies have examined the interaction between land-use conversion and harvesting. Harvard Forest researchers utilized a unique, spatially explicit database of all cutting events and land-cover conversions for Massachusetts over the past 20 years to characterize the

June 1, 2006

Undergraduate Research Experience Program Kicks Off

2006 REU Interns

22 summer students have arrived as part of the Harvard Forest summer research program in ecology. Students come from all over the United States to participate in on-going research projects including atmospheric pollution, global warming, hurricanes, treefalls, and insect outbreaks. Researchers come from many disciplines and institutions. Specific projects center on population and community ecology, paleoecology, land-use history, wildlife biology,

June 1, 2006

Spring Leaf Out - 2006

Spring May 22

The photographs in the following presentation document the changes in forest trees at the margin of the pasture, adjacent to the headquarters of the Harvard Forest. These photographs were taken during spring of 2006 by John O'Keefe, and show the timing of the leaf out and leaf development this spring.

Despite the very mild and dry winter, leaf out (leaves

May 1, 2006

New Harvard Forest Publication: Identifying Types of Private Forest Ownership

Ecosystem-scale approaches to management in the eastern United States depend on the attitudes and behaviors of thousands of non-industrial private families and individuals whose ownership dominates landscapes. In Massachusetts, for example, it is estimated that the average ownership is 23 acres. Most ecosystem processes greatly exceed this very small average management unit. While there has been prior work on individual

May 1, 2006

Invasive Plants in the News

HF research on invasive plants demonstrates critical evidence that a noxious alien weed causes ecological damage in the Garlic mustard invasionNortheast

Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), an invasive plant that has spread across much of the U.S. harms native maples, ashes, and other hardwood trees by releasing chemicals harmful to a soil fungus the trees

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