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Northeastern Ecological Observatory (NEEON)

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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.

May Highlights

Harvard Forest 2005 - 2006 Bullard Fellows Announced

The Charles Bullard fellowship program is to support advanced research and study by persons who show promise of making an important contribution, either as scholars or administrators, to forestry defined in its broadest sense as the human use of forested environments. The field is broadly construed to encompass the wide array of forestry-related subjects from biology to earth sciences, economics, politics, administration or law. See the complete listing of Bullard Scholars from 1962 - 2005.

Recipient

Home Institution

Field of Research

John M. Briggs

Professor
Evolution and Environmental Science
Arizona State University

Grassland Ecology
Tree Invasion
Data Management

Mark E. Harmon

Professor and Richardson Chair
Department of Forest Science
Oregon State University

Old-Growth Forests
Carbon Dynamics

Thomas R. Sinclair

Professor
Agronomy Physiology Laboratory
University of Florida

Physiology

Conghe Song

Assistant Professor
Department of Geography
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Carbon Dynamics
Ecosystem Modeling

John F. Weishampel

Associate Professor and
Graduate Program Coordinator
Department of Biology
University of Central Florida

Remote Sensing of Forest Structure

New Harvard Forest Publication

Northeastern Naturalist CoverRed-spotted Newts: An Unusual Nutrient Source for Northern Pitcher Plants. Jessica L. Butler, Daniel Z. Atwater, and Aaron M. Ellison, Northeastern Naturalist 12:1 pp. 1–10.

The northern pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea) receives some of its nutrients from the decomposition of prey that fall into its pitcher-shaped leaves. The majority of prey consists of ants, beetles, spiders, and slugs, and in rare cases, frogs and lizards. Here we report on the unusual occurrence of 22 Red-spotted Newt larvae (Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens) trapped within northern pitcher plants during a nutrient manipulation experiment in a Massachusetts bog in the summer of 2003. Newts were found among the larger of our experimental plants, but were not associated with any particular nutrient-addition treatment. High nitrogen levels in newts could contribute significantly to the nutrient budget of northern pitcher plants. Furthermore, this observation suggests that the trapping of amphibian prey by northern pitcher plants might not be as rare an event as previously believed.