New science, synthesis, scholarship, and strategic vision for society

Harvard Forest LTER (HFR) is a two decade-strong, integrated research and educational program investigating responses of forest dynamics to natural and human disturbances and environmental changes over broad spatial and temporal scales. HFR engages \u3e30 researchers, \u3e200 graduate and undergraduate students, and dozens of institutions in research into fundamental and applied ecological questions of national and international relevance. Through LTER I–IV, HFR has added historical perspectives, expanded its scope to the New England region, integrated social, biological, and physical sciences, and developed education and outreach programs for K-12, undergraduate, and graduate students, along with managers, decision-makers, and media professionals

The Archaeology of Coastal New England: The View from Martha's Vineyard

Archaeological evidence from the Lucy Vincent Beach Site provides a unique opportunity to examine the archaeological record on Martha's Vineyard from the Late Paleo-Indian period (10,000 B.P.) through the end ofthe Contact period (A.D. 1700). Archaeobotanical and osteological analysis ofthe remains from Lucy Vincent indicate the exploitation ofa wide variety ofplants and animals. Data from this site will contribute to our understanding ofthe complex relationship between environmental change and the lifeways of New England's Native peoples, and it will allow us to investigate the history of the Wampanoag Tribe on Martha's Vineyard

Conservation implications of limited Native American impacts in pre-contact New England

An increasingly accepted paradigm in conservation attributes valued modern ecological conditions to past human activities. Disturbances, including prescribed fire, are therefore used by land managers to impede forest development in many potentially wooded landscapes under the interpretation that openland habitats were created and sustained by human-set fire for millennia. We test this paradigm using palaeoenvironmental and archaeological data from New England. Despite the region’s dense population, anthropogenic impacts on the landscape before European contact were limited, and fire activity was independent of changes in human populations. Whereas human populations reached maxima during the Late Archaic (5,000–3,000 yr bp) and Middle–Late Woodland (1,500–500 yr bp) periods, lake-sediment charcoal records indicate elevated fire activity only during the dry early Holocene (10,000–8,000 yr bp) and after European colonization. Pollen data indicate closed forests from 8,000 yr bp to the onset of European deforestation, and archaeological evidence of pre-contact horticultural activity is sparse. Climate largely controlled fire severity in New England during the postglacial interval, and widespread openlands developed only after deforestation for European agriculture. Land managers seeking to emulate pre-contact conditions should de-emphasize human disturbance and focus on developing mature forests; those seeking to maintain openlands should apply the agricultural approaches that initiated them four centuries ago