Howland Forest

The Howland Research Forest is a 555-acre (225 ha) tract of mature evergreen forest in the North Maine Woods, within Penobscot County, central Maine. It is located west of the town of Howland.

Howland Forest
View of the Howland Forest canopy from one of the site's research towers.
Howland Forest
Map showing location of Howland Forest within the state of Maine
LocationMaine, United States
Nearest cityBangor
Coordinates45°12′N 68°44′W[1]
OwnerNortheast Wilderness Trust

History

The tract is part of the 1.1 million acres (4,500 km²) of Maine forest sold in 2005 by International Paper (IP) to the Seven Islands Land Company, a private forest investment management holding company. In 2007, the research forest was purchased by Northeast Wilderness Trust ensuring its wild and natural state into the future.[2]

The Howland Forest is a founding member of the AmeriFlux and FLUXNET research networks.[2]

Ecology

The Howland Forest study site is located in a boreal transitional forest of the New England/Acadian forests ecoregion. The forest is dominated by mixed spruce, hemlock, aspen, and birch stands ranging in age from 45 to 130 years. The soils are formed on coarse-loamy granitic basal till.[3]

Research forest

The tract had previously been designated as a research forest under IP's ownership, attracting researchers from the US Forest Service, the University of Maine, NASA, NOAA, and the Woods Hole Research Center. Areas of study included acid rain, nutrient cycling, soil ecology, and more recently, forest carbon uptake and loss. The forest has one of the longest records of carbon flux measurement in the world, dating to 1996, providing important information about carbon sequestration in mature forests.

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References
  1. "Site description". howlandforest.org. Archived from the original on 2007-08-05.
  2. Howland Forest website: http://www.howlandforest.org/
  3. "Woods Hole Research Center". Archived from the original on 2007-06-09.


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