Welcome to the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study
At the 8,000-acre Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire, long-term studies of air, water, soils, plants, and animals have produced major discoveries about human and natural disturbances to the forested landscape of the northeastern United States. In a collaborative research project spanning nearly six decades, scientists have discovered the existence and origins of acid rain; unlocked the mysteries of lead, salt, and nitrogen pollution in streams and lakes; and charted the rise and fall of bird populations because of climate change and other threats. Research findings at Hubbard Brook provide the raw material for education and policy-outreach programs that deliver authentic data to students, policymakers, and members of the public who care deeply about our natural world. Hubbard Brook is much more than an ecological field station in New Hampshire—it represents a new paradigm of “ecosystem thinking” that has changed the way we understand how nature works.
The Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study is a unique public-private partnership involving the USDA Forest Service, the National Science Foundation’s Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program, the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation, and scientists from scores of research institutions throughout the country.









