Harvard Forest CTFS-ForestGEO Mapped Forest Plot since 2014

To investigate the forest dynamics across a larger range of scales in which many processes operate, Harvard Forest (HF) researchers, with assistance from the Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS) and the Smithsonian Institute’s Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO), completed an initial census of all woody stems within a 35 ha plot located at the Harvard Forest in 2014. The HF MegaPlot is part of a global array of large-scale plots established by CTFS whose goals are to increase sampling efforts into temperate forests to explore ecosystem processes beyond population dynamics and biodiversity. The geography and size of the HF MegaPlot (500 m x 700 m) is designed to include a continuous, expansive, and varied natural forest landscape. The strategic plot location will yield opportunities for the study of forest dynamics and demography while capturing a large amount of existing NSF funded LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) science infrastructure (e.g. eddy flux towers, gauged sections of a small watershed, existing smaller permanent plots) and a century of observations and studies. The HF MegaPlot will enable an integrated study of ecosystem processes (e.g., biogeochemistry, hydrology, carbon dynamics) and forest dynamics by melding the past with current and future forest research. The second census was conducted during the summers of 2018 and 2019 but did not contain the central swamp portion of the plot.

为探究涵盖多种生态过程运作尺度的森林动态规律，哈佛大学森林（Harvard Forest, HF）研究人员在热带森林科学中心（Center for Tropical Forest Science, CTFS）以及史密森学会森林全球地球观测站（Forest Global Earth Observatory, ForestGEO）的协助下，于2014年对哈佛森林内一块35公顷样地内的所有木本植物茎干完成了首次普查。哈佛森林巨型样地（HF MegaPlot）是CTFS建立的全球大型样地阵列的组成部分，该阵列旨在加大温带森林的采样力度，以探索种群动态与生物多样性之外的生态系统过程。该巨型样地的地理范围与尺寸（500米×700米）被设计为覆盖一片连续、开阔且类型多样的天然森林景观。该样地的选址经过战略规划，既为森林动态与种群统计学研究提供了契机，同时可依托大量已由美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation, NSF）资助的长期生态研究（Long Term Ecological Research, LTER）基础设施，包括涡度通量塔、小型流域测流断面、已有的小型永久样地等，以及百余年的观测与研究积累。哈佛森林巨型样地将通过整合过往、当前与未来的森林研究，实现生态系统过程（如生物地球化学、水文、碳动态）与森林动态的综合研究。第二次普查于2018年与2019年夏季开展，但未覆盖样地中部的沼泽区域。