Background
by Mark Harmon
Dead trees have been part of forests for 300 million years, but only recently have scientists studied the various roles they play in forests. One key question is how long a dead tree “lives”; initial estimates indicated that for some species, such as Douglas-fir, it might be as long as the average live tree. However, aging dead trees after the fact is imprecise as is knowledge of how the dead tree began its life. Scientists at the H. J. Andrews proposed to study the log decomposition process as part of the US National Science Foundation’s Long-term Ecological Research Program (LTER). Given this process could take hundreds of years it was an ideal example of a long-term study. In 1985 the study was inaugurated, with logs of four species placed at six sites within the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest. All the logs were documented as to their starting condition in terms of their initial volume, density, and mass as well as water and nutrient content. Periodically, a subset of logs is sampled to determine how these variables have changed over time. The study has expanded in recent years to be part of the Long-term Ecological Reflections program so that arts and humanities-related observations can be documented as well.
by Fred Swanson
Over its 40-year history, this 200-year log decomposition experiment has been a monument of commitment to long-term research in the world of ecosystem science. It’s an experiment established for the duration of the long-term phenomenon in question. And over the 20+ year history of the Long-Term Ecological Reflections program at Andrews Forest it has inspired visiting writers and artists, leading to an outpouring of fascinating works which cast new perspectives on the experiment itself. Then fires burned through several of plots in this experiment and also long-term vegetation plots and experimental watersheds, triggering new research questions, new roles for those in the humanities (e.g., helping us all deal with grief), and even a shift in views of the nature of the science we are doing as a community of inquiry several generations deep. The learning continues! This is vital in such challenging times.
Artist Statement
The 200 Year Long-Term Log Decomposition Site
Installed in 1985, the Long-term Log Decomposition Site is an area of old-growth forest that is part of the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon. Tree trunks of various species have been placed in patches of forest and then researched over a span of 200 years as they decompose. This site has and will provide information that elucidates how old growth forests act as nutrient and carbon sinks, which are essential to validate preservation efforts as the climate crises progresses at an exponential rate.
As part of my larger Naturalists of the Long Now project, these prints are direct collaborations with scientists and writers who conduct research at the experimental forest. Over a period of three years, (2021-2024) I photographed portions of the forest both before and after a significant portion of the forest burned. I asked my collaborators to reflect on the landscapes and then annotate directly onto the inkjet prints. Each annotated two prints, one of a photograph taken before the burn and the other after the burn.
This project breaks down barriers between art and science, and creates a dialogue between text and image, landscape and viewer, expert, and novice, past, present, and future. Through the exploration of earthly archives such as old growth forests, my intention is to encourage people to think in terms of longer spans of time and consider what humanity and nature will look like in 100 or even 10,000 years.