Media Category: HRF

Measuring fluxes in the Harvard Forest black gum swamp at 3 AM.

Hannah measuring fluxes after winter snowfall

Hannah and Jon above the forest canopy.

Hannah and Jon in the bucket lift

Hannah with a methane gas analyzer.

Example of a litterfall collector at Harvard Forest LTER, located near the base of an eddy covariance tower. Ecologists measure litterfall mass by placing containers of a known size, typically lined with screen mesh, in the forest, and then collecting whatever falls into the basket at routine intervals. Back in the lab, they then sort this material into various components, which they then oven-dry and weigh. Mesh lining helps drain litter faster, reducing mass loss that can occur in the field.

Example of a litterfall collector at Harvard Forest LTER. Plastic buckets and laundry baskets are commonly used to collect litterfall in forest ecosystems.

Middle school students collect data for their class’s phenology research study, “Buds, Leaves, and Global Warming” in the Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology Program.

Postdoctoral fellow David Basler releases his drone from the top of Harvard Forest’s walk-up tower.

The soil warming plots at Harvard Forest viewed from atop an adjacent research tower. Audrey Barker Plotkin- Harvard Forest Archives