Published

The hemlock forest, as seen from the Woods Road to the tower.
Credit: David R. Foster- Harvard Forest Archives

Three decades of research on abrupt declines in pre-European hemlock populations, long term regional measurements of hemlock decline from the invasive insect hemlock woolly adelgid, and the long term Hemlock Removal Experiment confirm that hemlocks are a foundation species. They control forest structure, composition, and microclimate, with cascading trophic effects extending from mammals to microbes. As invasive insects proliferate across North America, HFR LTER is developing a generalizable understanding of population, community, and ecosystem level responses.

 

Learn more

  1. Ellison, AM et al. 2010. Experimentally testing the role of foundation species in forests: The Harvard Forest Hemlock Removal Experiment. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. doi: 10.1111/j.2041- 210X.2010.00025.x
  2. Foster, DR et al. 2014. Hemlock: A Forest Giant on the Edge. Yale University Press.

Contact

Jonathan Thompson
jthomps@fas.harvard.edu

Posted:  July 14, 2020