found that 300 years of human land-use has changed the composition of New England forests, but not the spatial distribution of tree species in the region,.quantified the long-term impact of the 1938 hurricane on the structure and composition of an old-growth forest and the New England landscape,.Among the many discoveries made through Harvard Forest research, scientists have: The Harvard Forest has a rich history of retrospective studies, including studies that have led to the development of new approaches to historical ecology. Through these historical studies we are able to extend the timeframe of our research and use the collective historical and ecological insights to provide guidelines and a framework on which to base successful conservation, management, and policy initiatives, especially in the context of ongoing global environmental change. The emphasis on the past continues today, as nearly every field study conducted by researchers at the Forest incorporates a historical component to evaluate current conditions and identify the magnitude and direction of changes that have occurred over time. Historical and retrospective studies reconstruct ecosystem dynamics and climatic change over centuries (via historical documents, tree-ring analysis) and millennia (via sediment cores from wetlands and lakes, archeological research) are an excellent way to provide the long-term context for current day disturbances and ecosystem conditions. Determining whether these changes fall within natural ecosystems dynamics or represent something new is key to management and conservation. Global environmental change is altering ecosystems worldwide by changing disturbance patterns, plant growth, and ecosystem structure and composition.
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