ABSTRACT
The Harvard Forest of Harvard University is presented in this essay as a model for long-term ecological research. Digital databases assembled over the last thirty years from recording devices installed in the forest allow for timelapse observation of the forest process. Signaling systems also allow the forest space to be observed in real time from many remote locations around the world. These approaches to research made possible by new technology have been added to the thoughtful preservation and recording of events in the forest space over the last two centuries. In combination these approaches allow a rich vision of the forest as an archive and protector of processes over time.
