Long Term Ecological Research

The Harvard Forest Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program is part of a national network of long-term ecological research sites. Within this framework we examine ecological dynamics in the New England region resulting from natural disturbances, environmental change, and human impacts. Emphasis is on processes including:

• Pattern and process in dynamic forest ecosystems
• Climatic change and variability
• Invasive forest insects
• the modern land-use regime
• interacting global change drivers

An interdisciplinary group of PI scientists, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate students from many parts of Harvard and other institutions use four complementary approaches to long-term study:

• long-term measurements of current structure and function
• large, long-term experiments
• historical studies of past conditions and dynamics
• prospective modeling

Long-term studies span a broad range of spatial and temporal scales and seek to:

• develop societally relevant scientific data and information
• train a diverse next generation of researchers, beginning with K-12 and undergraduate students
• develop databases with broad relevance to fundamental ecological issues
• broaden public impacts by engaging the arts and humanities, conservation and policy

Leadership of Harvard Forest's LTER program:

• Jonathan Thompson, Lead PI
• Carina Berlingeri, Graduate Student Site Representative (carinaberlingeri@fas.harvard.edu)
• Audrey Barker Plotkin, Co-PI
• Serita Frey, Co-PI
• N. Michele (Missy) Holbrook, Co-PI
• Lucy Hutyra, Co-PI
• Emery Boose, Information Manager

Learn more by exploring abstracts from our annual LTER symposium, exploring our online video series, and watching a short documentary by Amy Li (Harvard '20) featuring the origins and trajectories of 30 years of LTER research here at Harvard Forest.  

More videos...