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January 7, 2022

Study Reveals Impact of Colonial Land Use on Current Forest Composition

Figures from the ForestGEO paper in PeerJ, showing colonial land use

By Anna Christensen

A study just published in PeerJ Life and Environment examines how anthropogenic and natural disturbances from past decades, and even centuries, affect the spatial and species composition of woody plants within a forest plot.

Harvard Forest Senior Ecologist David Orwig and collaborators (Jason Aylward, Hannah Buckley, Bradley Case, and Aaron Ellison) utilized the data from the first

April 6, 2020

Second Global Earth Observatory Census Reaches Milestone

Map of the most abundant tree species in the ForestGEO plot, shown in patches of blue, red, and green

The primary work of the second census of the Harvard Forest Global Earth Observatory is complete, with 6,992 new woody stems mapped, tagged, and measured - adding to more than 116,000 stems mapped in the initial census. 

The area is re-censused every 5 years by a dedicated crew of researchers led by Forest Ecologist Dave Orwig. The census tracks not only

July 5, 2017

Recent Study Seeks to Explain Global Forest Diversity Patterns

Kyle Gay measuring tree diameter

The well-known trend of global diversity decreasing from the tropics to the poles is often discussed but never adequately explained.  A paper that came out in the June 30, 2017 issue of the journal Science is shedding new light on potential reasons behind this global phenomenon.   The study, headed by Joe LaManna at Washington University in St.

February 24, 2015

Bullard Spotlight: Hannah Buckley and Bradley Case on Forest Spatial Patterns

HF ForestGEO plot

Our Charles Bullard Fellowship Program draws scholars from around the globe. This year, Hannah Buckley and Bradley Case from New Zealand's Lincoln University are at the Forest working toward a better understanding of the links between forest spatial patterns and processes.

In collaboration with HF senior ecologist Aaron Ellison, they are using new methods in spatial

September 4, 2013

Field Trip for New England Foresters

NESAF field trip, August 2013

On August 24, twenty foresters representing every state in New England toured the Harvard Forest as part of the New England Society of American Foresters' silvicultural working group. Harvard Forest site coordinator and licensed forester Audrey Barker-Plotkin led the day-long tour.

The group got an in-depth look at a number of Harvard Forest's major long-term experiments, including the

June 8, 2012

NEON Breaks Ground

NEON groundbreaking

Leaders from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), and the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) joined Harvard Forest scientists and students today to celebrate the groundbreaking for NEON's first major research site. Harvard Forest is the core site for NEON's Northeastern domain, and will be the first of 20 such sites

October 1, 2011

Harvard Forest's "Mega-plot" Nears Completion

Megaplot measuring

Harvard Forest researchers have nearly finished a major forest census begun in summer 2010 on a 35-hectare "mega-plot" on Prospect Hill. The mega-plot is part of a global array of plots to explore ecosystem processes, jointly established by CTFS and Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum and recently expanded by the Smithsonian Institution's Global Earth Observatory (SIGEO). Ecologist

November 1, 2010

First Phase of Mega-Plot Mapping Completed (30,000 stems!)

Tree measuring at mega-plot

This summer, ecologist Dave Orwig and a crew of 6 technicians established a new, 35-hectare (about 85 acres) research "mega-plot" on Harvard Forest's Prospect Hill. Over the course of 13 weeks, they measured, tagged, and mapped every woody plant stem greater than 1 cm diameter. In the end, a whopping 29,908 stems were analyzed. Work will resume next summer to

June 1, 2010

Harvard Forest Mega-plot Census Begins

Megaplot Map

Harvard Forest researchers, with the assistance of scientists from the Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS), began the census of woody stems within a 35 ha plot located on Prospect Hill. Using standardized CTFS methodology, every stem greater than 1 cm diameter at 1.3 m is measured, tagged, and mapped. During the summer, Forest Ecologist David Orwig and