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Vineyard Research in the News

June 21, 2012
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Wasque beach erosion - photo by Rose Lincoln of the Harvard Gazette

This summer, HF Director David Foster and his research team are coring trees, extracting pond sediments, and recording vegetation and soil makeup in a Martha's Vineyard landscape that's rapidly eroding into the sea. The site is on the island of Chappaquiddick in an area called Wasque Point, a property owned by the Trustees of Reservations. This research is part of a larger Harvard Forest effort to study long-term changes in the climate and vegetation of the Vineyard.

According to a recent news article published about Foster's Wasque research, "Where a parking lot once existed and provided room for 100 vehicles, now fewer than 10 cars can park. Stairs that were part of a pathway down to the beach have disappeared, washed away by the ocean. Trees are continually uprooted and a fence blocks the old path. A sign cautions visitors of a 20-foot drop to the water."

Read the articles:

Learn more about Harvard Forest research on the Vineyard.

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