The BiodiversiTree Project

Prior to the massive BiodiversiTree project, this field was used to grow corn for 35 years. (SERC)

When the experimental forest is fully planted it will add some 35,000 trees to the landscape divided among 125 study plots.

BiodiversiTree includes 16 tree species native to North America, including this White Dogwood. (SERC)

Senior scientist John Parker dug 24,000 holes in the first phase of forest planting. Parker says it took about 30 seconds a hole, then another minute or so to fill in the dirt. (SERC)

Some 100 volunteers joined Smithsonian scientists at the Environmental Research Center to plant the trees according to a precise plan. (SERC)

Volunteer Phil Bishop planted 600 trees himself and will be back next season to plant more. (SERC)

Fields are flagged to indicate which species go into which hole. The markers also helped prevent trees from being mowed over. (SERC)

This hickory sapling is off to a healthy start in the 100-year forest project. (SERC)

Whether or not this Sycamore survives, scientists will use the long-term data to chart changes in the forest landscape. (SERC)

Smithsonian fellow Susan Cook-Patton and intern Emily DuBois gather data on insect damage at the end of the first growing season. (SERC)

This stream at the base of the BiodiversiTree project is part of the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States that brings fresh water to millions of people on the East Coast of the United States. (SERC)

These mature trees near the experimental forest give a hint at what some of the trees will look like as they mature. (SERC)