This award provides partial support for purchase of a nutrient analysis equipment package consisting of an automated ion analysis instrument with an ion chromatograph system. The instrumentation will benefit the research programs of six investigators who analyze nutrient levels in a variety of environments, including soils, bogs, fens, streams and forests, and investigate nutrient transport in a variety of plant types. The Harvard Forest is a 1200 ha rural field station, laboratory, and classroom in central Massachusetts that has served as a center for research, education, and training in forest biology and ecology. It is the research focus of a National Science Foundation-funded Longterm Ecological Research (LTER) project that integrates terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric studies of the historical and modern changes in the forests of New England. Studies range from organisms to ecosystems to coupled systems. These studies provide multiple opportunities for education and training at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate level of students from Harvard and other universities, and from nearby small colleges and community colleges.
