Henry W. Art

Photo of Henry W. Art

Rosenburg Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology, Emeritus

At Williams since 1970

Areas of Expertise

Forest Ecology

Scholarship/Creative Work

  • Art, H.W., Gen. Ed., 1993. The Dictionary of Ecology and Environmental Science. Henry Holt, New York. 682pp.
  • Art, H.W., 1992. The Impacts of Hurricane Gloria, Deer, and Trails in the Sunken Forest, Fire Island national Seashore, Fire Island, New York. Technical Report NPS/NAROSS/NRTR/–87/01. Dept. of Interior–National Park Service–North Atlantic Region. 168pp.
  • Art, H.W., 1991. Wildflower Gardener’s Guide: Midwest, Great Plains, and Canadian Prairies Edition. Garden Way Publishing, Pownal, VT, 192 pp. (Winner of the 1991 Quill & Trowel Award (Garden Writers Association of America) for the best written book on gardening).

Research Interests

Long-Term Ecological Research in the Hopkins Memorial Forest

This research involves the investigation of long-term changes in successional relationships among species comprising the various communities in the College-owned Hopkins Forest, and the extent to which natural and human-use disturbances have played a role in shaping the present patterns of communities and ecosystems. This study has involved the collection of data from the permanent plot system initiated in 1935 by the U.S. Forest Service when they operated the facility. Deed history, oral history, and other socioeconomic data have complemented the ecological data bases on the Hopkins Forest.

Dynamics of Atlantic Coastal Maritime Forest Ecosystems

Professor Art is investigating the long-term, successional changes and reproductive patterns of maritime forest components of various National Seashores. Over the past decade, this research has focused on deer– vegetation interactions, analyzed through the construction and monitoring of deer-proof exclosures to determine experimentally the effects of these large mammals on maritime vegetation.

Distribution of Spring Flora in Northern Berkshire County

Over the past several years, various honors students have analyzed the distributional ecology of the spring flora in the vicinity of Williamstown. It has been found that certain species, especially ant-dispersed ones, are associated with primary woodlots that are remnants of the pre-colonial landscape.

Distributional Ecology of Lonicera hirsuta

Hairy honeysuckle, listed as a rare plant in Massachusetts, grows in great abundance on Pine Cobble. For the past several years we have been investigating why this species is found in such high density on that site, yet is found in only two other sites in the state.