RAPID: Regional and landscape initiatives at Harvard Forest LTER

该哈佛森林LTER研究如何在新英格兰森林自然和人类干扰和环境变化的空间尺度，从个别网站到整个地区。 拟议的工作将侧重于这一更大任务的两个具体方面。 首先，研究人员将调查南部新英格兰海岸橡树意外和广泛死亡的原因和后果。 这项工作将与正在进行的关于新英格兰铁杉和山毛榉树类似衰退的研究相结合，并将解决与重要生态物种衰退或丧失相关的科学和管理挑战。 第二，一个无线（无线电）网络将安装在前景山道在哈佛森林。 无线网络将使人们有可能从森林中的各种科学项目中真实的及时收集数据，以便可以远程监测和控制设备，并在收集到数据后将选定的数据张贴在网上。对全国的科学家、政策制定者和土地管理者来说，这是一个日益严重的问题。 拟议的工作将阐明这些事件对关键树种的机制和影响。 在景观尺度上，传感器、网络和无线技术的最新进展使人们能够以几年前无法想象的方式在广阔的区域内以高采样率进行测量。 拟议中的哈佛森林的无线网络将支持广泛的新研究，实际上为哈佛森林的研究人员和学生创造了一个“户外实验室和教室”，在LTER网络中，以及更大的科学和教育界。

The Harvard Forest LTER studies how forests in New England respond to natural and human disturbance and environmental change at spatial scales ranging from individual sites to the entire region. The proposed work will focus on two specific aspects of this larger mandate. First, researchers will investigate the causes and consequences of the unexpected and widespread death of oak trees on the southern New England coast. This work will be integrated with ongoing studies of similar decline in hemlock and beech trees across New England and will address the scientific and management challenges associated with the decline or loss of important ecological species. Second, a wireless (radio) network will be installed on the Prospect Hill Tract at the Harvard Forest. The wireless network will make it possible to collect data in real time from a wide range of scientific projects in the forest so that equipment may be monitored and controlled remotely and so that selected data may be posted online as it is collected.At a regional scale, the decline or loss of species caused by multiple stresses, including invasive pests and disease, climate change, and urban and suburban development, is a growing problem for scientists, policy makers, and land managers across the nation. The proposed work will shed light on the mechanisms and impacts of such events for critical tree species. At the landscape scale, recent advances in sensor, network, and wireless technologies now make it possible to conduct measurements over broad areas and at high sampling rates in a way that was unthinkable just a few years ago. The proposed wireless network at Harvard Forest will support a wide range of new studies, in effect creating an 'outdoor laboratory and classroom' for researchers and students at Harvard Forest, in the LTER Network, and in the larger scientific and educational community.