Department of Environmental Conservation

Email: rharring’at’ eco.umass.edurharring(at)eco.umass.edu

Primary interests

The focus of Dr. Harrington’s research and teaching program is Forest Ecology and Conservation. The focus of her basic research is understanding plant response to environmental constraints, specifically the importance of resource availability in limiting species distributions along environmental gradients. Her other main area of research is the ecology of invasive plant species, both in terms of the physiological characteristics facilitating their successful invasion and persistence in a given site, and also their impact on native biodiversity and ecosystem processes once they become established.

Current Projects

• Effects of light and nutrient availability on growth, photosynthetic performance, and resource use of regenerating tree species in the Quabbin Watershed.
   
• Response of invading plant species to gradients of light availability in managed forest ecosystems.
   
• Ecology and distribution of Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii): Environmental limitations and effects on forest community structure.

   

Selected Recent Publications

Fownes, J.H. and R.A. Harrington. 2004. Seedling response to gaps: separating effects of light and nitrogen. Forest Ecology and Management 203:297-310

Harrington, RA, JH Fownes and TM Cassidy. 2004. Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii) in forest understory: leaf and whole plant responses to nitrogen availability. American Midland Naturalist 151:206-216.

Ellsworth JW, RA Harrington, and JH Fownes. 2004. Survival, growth and gas exchange of Celastrus orbiculatus in sun and shade. American Midland Naturalist 151:233-240.

Ellsworth JW, RA Harrington and JH Fownes. 2004. Seedling emergence, growth, and allocation of  Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculata): effects of seed input, seed bank, and forest floor litter. Forest Ecology and Management 190:255-264.

Cassidy, TM, JH Fownes and RA Harrington. 2004. Nitrogen limits an invasive perennial shrub in forest understory. Biological Invasions 6:113-121.

Harrington, RA, R. Kujawski and HDP Ryan. 2003. Invasive species and the green industry. Journal of Arboriculture 29:42-46.

Sanford, NL, RA Harrington and JH Fownes. 2003. Survival and growth of native and alien woody seedlings in open and understory environments. Forest Ecology and Management 183:377-385.

Harrington, RA, JH Fownes and PM Vitousek. 2001. Patterns and components of response to nutrient limitation:  comparison of long-term results in N- and P-limited tropical forest ecosystems. Ecosystems 4:646-657

Harrington, RA, JH Fownes, PG Scowcroft, and CS Vann. 1997. Impact of Hurricane Iniki on native Hawaiian Acacia koa forests: damage and two-year recovery. Journal of Tropical Ecology 13:539-558.

Harrington, RA and JJ Ewel. 1997. Invasibility of tree plantations by native and non-indigenous plant species in Hawaii. Forest Ecology and Management 99:153-162.

Harrington, RA and JH Fownes. 1996. Predicting spacing effects on growth and optimal rotations of tropical multipurpose trees.  Agricultural Systems 50:377-390.

Meinzer, FC, JH Fownes and RA Harrington. 1996. Growth indices and stomatal control of transpiration in Acacia koa stands planted at different densities.  Tree Physiology 16:607-615.

Harrington, RA and JH Fownes. 1995. Radiation interception and growth of planted and coppice stands of four fast-growing tropical trees. Journal of Applied Ecology 32:1-8.

Harrington, RA, JH Fownes, FC Meinzer, and PG Scowcroft. 1995. Forest growth along a rainfall gradient in Hawaii: Acacia koa stand structure, productivity, foliar nutrients, and water- and nutrient-use efficiencies.  Oecologia 102:277-284.

Gutierrez, MV, RA Harrington, FC Meinzer, and JH Fownes. 1994. The effect of environmentally induced stem temperature gradients on estimates from the heat balance method in two tropical woody species.Tree Physiology 14:179-190.  
 
Harrington, RA and JH Fownes. 1993. Allometry and growth of planted versus coppice stands of four fast-growing tropical tree species. Forest Ecology and Management 56:315-327.

Fownes, JH and RA Harrington. 1992. Allometry of woody biomass and leaf area in five tropical multipurpose trees. Journal of Tropical Forest Science 4:317-330.

Fownes, JH and RA Harrington. 1990. Modelling growth and optimal rotations of tropical multipurpose trees using unit leaf rate and leaf area index. Journal of Applied Ecology 27:886-896.

Harrington, RA, BJ Brown, and PB Reich. 1989. Ecophysiology of exotic and native shrubs in southern Wisconsin: 1. Relationship of leaf characteristics, resource availability and phenology to seasonal patterns of carbon gain.  Oecologia 80:356-367.

Harrington, RA, BJ Brown, PB Reich and JH Fownes. 1989. Ecophysiology of exotic and native shrubs in southern Wisconsin: 2. Annual growth and carbon gain. Oecologia 80:368-373.

Harrington, RA. 1988. Simulation models of tree and stand growth. In: (Adams, NR and FB Cady, eds.) Modeling Growth and Yield of Multipurpose Tree Species. Multipurpose Tree Species Network Technical Series, Vol. 1. Winrock International Institute For Agricultural Development. Arlington, VA. pp. 17-25.

Valiela, I, JM Teal, SB Volkman, CM Cogswell, and RA Harrington. 1980. On the measurement of tidal exchanges and ground water flow in salt marshes. Limnology and Oceanography 25:187-192.