2009 Seminar Schedule

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Research and Education in Ecology, Conservation and Forest Biology

Since 1907 research and education have been the mission of the Harvard Forest, one of the oldest and most intensively studied forests in North America. From a center comprised of 3000 acres of land, research facilities, and the Fisher Museum the scientists, students, and collaborators at the Forest explore topics ranging from conservation and environmental change to land-use history and the ways in which physical, biological and human systems interact to change our earth.

July Highlights

Ragweed and Future Climate Change: Putting the Where and When on Wheezing

Harvard Forest ecologists Kristina Stinson and David Foster, in collaboration with Dr. Chris Rogers from the University of Massachusetts School of Public Health, have been awarded $1M from the US Environmental Protection Agency to study the effect of global change on ragweed and human health. The researchers’ primary objective will be to determine where and when ragweed pollen production changes with major shifts in atmospheric carbon dioxide and seasonal precipitation. Common ragweed, the main cause of hay fever nationwide, dramatically increases its pollen production when exposed to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide. This new research project will assess the response among different ragweed ecotypes from NY to Maine to a host of climate-related changes. The researchers will install a series of pollen traps near study populations of ragweed to determine how geographic variation in plant growth, abundance and peak flowering time relate to volume of pollen output and allergic potency. In addition, a large experiment will be installed at the Harvard Forest to test ecotype responses to simulated increases in carbon dioxide and changes in seasonal rainfall. Using these data, Stinson and her colleagues will generate regional models and maps of ragweed “hotspots” across a spectrum of future climate change scenarios. These data draw upon the researchers' collective expertise in plant-climate interactions, population biology, and air quality to advance our theoretical understanding of population-level responses of plants to climate change. At the same time, the resulting data and maps will contribute the most accurate predictions to date for allergen hotspots in this region or elsewhere - a boon for public health officials and allergy sufferers who hope to strategize for the long term.

Director, David Foster, Appointed to Massachusetts Climate Change Committee

David R. Foster was appointed by Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Ian Bowles to the newly formed Climate Change Adaptation Advisory Committe. The Committee will advise the Commonwealth on strategies for adapting to sea level rise, warming temperatures, increased incidence of flood and drought and other predicted effects of climate change. Members are experts from business, academia, and nonprofit organizations, who will meet periodically and report their findings to the Legislature by December 31, 2009.

Harvard Forest Schoolyard Teachers Honored

Two Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology Teachers received Awards for Excellence in Energy and Environmental Education from The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEA).  Secretary Ian Bowles presented the awards to Lisa Shluger of the Fuller Middle School in Framingham and Tiffany Davis of the J.R. Briggs Elementary School in Ashburnham in the Great Hall at the Massachusetts State House.  According to the EOEA, these awards honor individual schools, teachers and students across the Commonwealth who have distinguished themselves in energy and environmental education initiatives.

Earth Day Lecture at Harvard Center for the Environment

Harvard Forest Senior Ecologist Aaron Ellison gave the Earth Day lecture at the Harvard University Center for the Environment in their Biodiversity, Ecology, and Global Change Lecture Series on the topic of "Assembling and restoring ecosystems in a rapidly changing world." If you couldn't make it to Cambridge for Earth Day, you can listen to the lecture online: http://www.environment.harvard.edu/video/oeb/ellison/presentation.html

New Harvard Forest Publication

Fagus grandifolia (American Beech) is uncommon along the coast of southern New England, but occasionally forms unusual monodominant stands with higher beech abundance than is typical for inland areas. In this new publication, Posy Busby (former HF MFS student) and HF collaborators document the distribution of beech on Cape Cod and nearby coastal islands, and evaluate environmental and historical factors that influence its distribution. They found beech is most common and abundant on moraines and in areas that are close to water bodies, presumably as a result of reduced drought stress and increased protection from wildfire. The largest monodominant beech forest (approximately 1000 ha) known from the eastern US occurs on Naushon Island, but few stands elsewhere in the region exceed 5 ha. In the six intensively studied forests, increased beech dominance in the 20th century corresponds with episodic beech establishment and growth release after several hurricanes in the 1920s–1950s. Thus, unlike the small-scale gap dynamics characteristic of beech in the extensive northern hardwood forests of northern New England and New York, large-scale wind disturbances apparently contribute to local beech dominance in coastal New England where beech is otherwise uncommon

Busby, P. E., G. Motzkin, et al. (2009). Distribution and Dynamics of American Beech in Coastal Southern New England. Northeastern Naturalist 16(2): 159-176.