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Harvard Forest Symposium Abstract 2011

  • Title: Progress Report of the Harvard Forest 35-ha research plot
  • Primary Author: David Orwig (Harvard Forest)
  • Abstract:

    Harvard Forest researchers, with the assistance of scientists from the Center for Tropical Forest Science and the Smithsonian Institute’s Global Earth Observatory (CTFS-SIGEO), began the census of woody stems within the 35 ha plot located on Prospect Hill on June 1, 2010. Using standardized CTFS-SIGEO methodology, Dave Orwig and three 2-person crews measured, tagged, painted, and mapped every stem greater than 1 cm diameter at 1.3 m. Field crews worked for 13 weeks and entered quadrat data daily. Vegetation sampling ended August 27, 2010 and then began again for additional fall sampling on November 1, 2010. During these sampling periods, 23, 579 stems were measured, representing approximately 14.5 hectares. The 3 western columns were particularly dense, containing dense thickets of mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia). Stem densities averaged 2301 ha-1 and ranged from 1756 to 3071 ha-1. All stems were entered twice into the temporary database during the summer and screened for errors. In addition, all 10 x 10 m stem maps were digitized and every stem was converted to x-y coordinates. We hope to complete the remaining 20 ha of forest during summer 2011. The Harvard Forest plot is dominated by eastern hemlock and northern hardwood species, and will make an excellent comparison with several other hardwood plots in North America and China at similar latitudes. This plot is part of a global array of large-scale plots established by CTFS, which recently expanded sampling efforts into temperate forests to explore ecosystem processes beyond population dynamics and biodiversity. The geography and size of the Harvard Forest plot (500 m x 700 m) was designed to include a continuous, expansive and varied natural forest landscape that will yield opportunities for the study of forest dynamics and demography while capturing a large amount of existing science infrastructure (e.g. eddy flux towers, gauged sections of a small watershed, existing smaller permanent plots) that will enable the integrated study of ecosystem processes (e.g., biogeochemistry, hydrology, carbon dynamics) and forest dynamics . Thus, the resulting data will integrate well with ongoing NSF-funded LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) and NEON (National Ecological Observation Network) studies.

  • Research Category: Biodiversity Studies
    Large Experiments and Permanent Plot Studies