Land-use History and Forest Transformations in Central New England

Abstract

Most of the northeastern U.S. has been extensively altered by human activity over the past 200-300 years. In New England, much of the landscape was deforested, farmed in diverse ways, and eventually allowed to reforest naturally. Any understanding of the forest vegetation and ecosystems of this broad region, therefore, requires close consideration of human impacts, past and present, and their continuing effects over the modern landscape (Cronon 1983). At the Harvard Forest, the effect of human history on structure and management of forests in central New England has been a focus of study for foresters (Fisher 1925, 1931; Spurr 1956), soil scientists (Gast 1937; Griffith et al. 1930), economists (Gould 1942; Black and Brinser 1952; Barraclough 1949), and ecologists (Fisher 1928, 1933; Raup and Carlson 1941). Today the Long-term Ecological Research program continues to compare and contrast the effects of human and natural disturbance processes (Foster and Smith 1991).