Reports & Publications

Uncovering, Collecting, and Analyzing Records to Investigate the Ecological Impacts of Climate Change: A Template from Thoreau's Concord
Richard B. Primack and Abraham J. Miller-Rushing

February issue of the journal BioScience (February 2012 / Vol. 62 No. 2; www.biosciencemag.org)

Abstract
Historical records are an important resource for understanding the biological impacts of climate change. Such records include naturalists' journals, club and field station records, museum specimens, photographs, and scientific research. Finding records and overcoming their limitations are serious challenges to climate change research. In the present article, we describe efforts to locate data from Concord, Massachusetts, and provide a template that can be replicated in other locations. Analyses of diverse data sources, including observations made in the 1850s by Henry David Thoreau, indicate that climate change is affecting the phenology, presence, and abundance of species in Concord. Despite recent work on historical records, many sources of historical data are underutilized. Analyses of these data may provide insights into climate change impacts and techniques to manage them. Moreover, the results are useful for communicating local examples of changing climate conditions to the public.

Mercury in Acadia and northeast protected areas

This workshop, convened at the SERC Institute in Acadia National Park, Maine, brought together scientists, resource managers, outreach professionals, and formal science educators to prioritize research needs for mercury based on data gaps and new research opportunities, determine strategies for outreach regarding mercy in Parks, and discuss approaches for science education in schools focused on mercury as a topic of interest.

April 28 - 30, 2011
Schoodic Education and Research Center
at Acadia National Park
Winter Harbor, Maine

Read the report.
Adobe pdf, 1.9 MB