Education and Scholarly Interests
Dr. Forman is the PAES Professor of Advanced Environmental Studies in Landscape Ecology at Harvard University. He received the bachelors degree at Haverford College and Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania. His primary scholarly interests are landscape ecology, road ecology, and urban-region ecology and planning, and more broadly, linking science with spatial pattern to mesh nature and people.  Specific research also includes landscape change, the patch-corridor-matrix model, conservation, and land-use planning.

Teaching
Forman taught at the Escuela Agricolæ Panamericana (Honduras), University of Wisconsin, Rutegers University, and several field stations. At Harvard, he teaches graduate courses (landscape ecology, urban and suburban ecology, advanced topics in landscape ecology) at the Graduate School of Design, and a junior-senior course (ecology and land-use planning) in the Environmental Science and Public Policy Program of Harvard College.  These courses explore ecological principles and applications for the understanding, conservation, design, policy, and planning of land.  Dr. Forman received the Lindback Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Honors Internationally
Professor Forman has served as a Fulbright Scholar in Colombia, CNRS Chercheur in France, Miegunyah Fellow at the University of Melbourne (Australia), CRES Fellow at Australian National University, and Vice President of the International Association for Landscape Ecology.  He received medals from the Faculty of Science of Charles University (Prague) and the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Florence (Italy).  He served as Consultant to the President of Costa Rica and Minister of Natural Resources and Energy, and to the Mayor and Chief Architect/Planner of Barcelona.  He is a Member of Clare Hall (University of Cambridge), an Honorary Member of the Italian Society of Landscape Ecology, and an Honorary Professor in the Academia Sinica in China.

Honors in the United States
Dr. Forman served as President of the Torrey Botanical Society and Vice President of the Ecological Society of America.  He has been a member of the Editorial Board of six scientific journals, has served on three National Research Council/TRB committees, and has written the Foreword for ten published books.  His board membership includes The Trustees of Reservations and The Nature Conservancy, Massachusetts Chapter.  He was named Distinguished Landscape Ecologist in 1992 and serves as Associate of the Harvard Forest.  He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Early Career
Professor Forman’s scholarly roots are in ecology, especially of plants and forests.  Early research included experimentally explaining (pre-phyto/biotron) a hierarchical species distribution (Forman 1964), moss ecology (Forman 1969), and community structure (Forman 1975, Allen and Forman 1976).  In an era before ecologists focused on spatial pattern and landscapes with a heavy human imprint, he launched into basically the first rigorously designed test of the effect of patch size on species number on land, using old-growth woods in an agricultural landscape (Forman and Elfstrom 1975, Forman et al. 1976, Galli et al. 1976).  Immediately thereafter he spearheaded a rare multidimensional analysis and book for an entire landscape (Forman 1979).

Emergence of Landscape Ecology
These two steps galvanized the idea of landscape ecology (the ecology of large heterogeneous areas, such as seen from an airplane window), and with colleagues from several fields began to build the groundwork for a potential field, including some foundation publications (Forman 1979, Forman and Godron 1981, Forman 1983, Risser et al. 1983, Franklin and Forman 1987).  His 1986 book with M. Godron was the first synthesis of modern landscape ecology, and elaborated the patch-corridor-matrix model for understanding, conserving, managing, designing and planning land-use pattern.  In 1995 he published the more definitive book on the subject, and extended the vision to include regions.  He continues active contributions in landscape ecology (Forman and Collinge 1995, Collinge and Forman 1998, Hersperger and Forman 2003).

Emergence of Road Ecology
Again in 1995, challenged by the paradox of prominent road systems in the landscape and the near-absence of ecological understanding of them, he began collaborating with the transportation community and wildlife biologists to build foundations for a potential field of road ecology.  His early articles provided syntheses and ideas (Forman and Hersperger 1996, Forman and Alexander 1998, Forman and Deblinger 2000, Forman 2000, Forman et al. 2002).  This effort culminated in the spearheading of a multi-author volume by 14 ecologists, hydrologist, and transportation experts (Forman et al. 2003), the first comprehensive book on the ecology of roads and vehicles. This has effectively jump-started the field into rapid coalescence.  He continues publishing in road ecology, both its intellectual development and its solutions for transportation, the land, and society (Forman 2004, 2006, Forman and McDonald 2007).

Urban Region Ecology and Planning
Finally, the roots of Professor Forman’s emergent interest in urban region ecology and planning are evident in an early small co-authored book (Dramstad et al. 1996).  His interest later gelled while undertaking an ambitious planning project and book for Barcelona that highlighted the importance of natural systems and their uses in an urban region (Forman 2004).  Concurrently ecology and planning work for a suburban town highlighted the important local dimension (Forman et al. 2004).  These foundations, along with a spatial environmental analysis of thirty-eight urban regions, large to small, worldwide, coalesced in a new book highlighting this challenging frontier, urban region ecology and planning (Forman 2007).

Primary Books

Forman, R. T. T., editor.  1979.  Pine Barrens: Ecosystem and Landscape.  Academic Press, New York.  601 pages.  [1998 edition, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey].

Forman, R. T. T. and M. Godron.  1986.  Landscape Ecology.  John Wiley, New York. 619 pages.  [Chinese editions, 1990 and 1994; Czech edition, 1993].

Zonneveld, I. S. and R. T. T. Forman, editors.  1990.  Changing Landscapes: An Ecological Perspective.  Springer-Verlag, New York.  286 pages.

Forman, R. T. T.  1995.  Land Mosaics: The Ecology of Landscapes and Regions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge/New York.  632 pages.

Dramstad, W., J. D. Olson, and R. T. T. Forman.  1996.  Landscape Ecology Principles in Landscape Architecture and Land-use Planning.  Published by Harvard University Graduate School of Design, American Society of Landscape Architects, and Island Press, Washington, D.C.  80 pages.  [Chinese edition; 2005, Spanish edition].

Forman, R. T. T., D. Sperling,  J. A. Bissonette, A. P. Clevenger, C. D. Cutshall, V. H. Dale, L. Fahrig, R. France, C. R. Goldman, K. Heanue, J. A. Jones, F. J. Swanson, T. Turrentine, and T. C. Winter.  2003.  Road Ecology: Science and Solutions.  Island Press, Washington, D.C.  481 pages.

Forman, R. T. T.  2004.  Mosaico territorial para la region metropolitana de Barcelona (Land Mosaic for the Greater Barcelona Region: Planning a Future).  Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona.  150 pages.

Forman, R. T. T.  2007.  Urban Regions: Ecology and Planning Beyond the City. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge/New York.  In press.

Selections from Forman’s Numerous Scholarly Articles:

Forman, R. T. T.  1964.  Growth under controlled conditions to explain the hierarchical distributions of a moss, Tetraphis pellucida.  Ecological Monographs 34: 1-25.

Forman, R. T. T.  1969.  Comparison of coverage, biomass, and energy as measures of standing crop of bryophytes in various ecosystems.  Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 96: 582-591.

Forman, R. T. T.  1975.  Canopy lichens with blue-green algae: a nitrogen source in a Colombian rainforest.  Ecology 56: 1176-1184.

Forman, R. T. T. and B. A. Elfstrom.  1975.  Forest structure comparison of Hutcheson Memorial Forest and eight old woods on the New Jersey Piedmont.  Hutcheson Memoria lForest Bulletin (Rutgers University) 3: 44-51.

Forman, R. T. T., A. E. Galli, and C. F. Leck.  1976.  Forest size and avian diversity in New Jersey woodlots with some land-use implications.  Oecologia 26: 1-8.

Galli, A. E., C. F. Leck, and R. T. T. Forman.  1976.  Avian distribution patterns in forest islands of different sizes in Central New Jersey.  Auk 93: 356-364.

Allen, E. B. and R. T. T. Forman.  1976.  Plant species removals and old-field community structure and stability.  Ecology 57: 1233-1243.

Forman, R. T. T.  1979.  The Pine Barrens of New Jersey: an ecological mosaic.  In Pine Barrens: Ecosystem and Landscape.  R. T. T. Forman, editor.  Academic Press, New York.  Pages 569-585.

Forman, R. T. T. and D. C. Hahn.  1980.  Spatial patterns of trees in a Caribbean semi-evergreen forest.  Ecology 61: 1267-1274.

Forman, R.T.T. and M. Godron. 1981. Patches and structural components for a landscape ecology. BioScience 31:733-740.

Forman, R. T. T. and R. E. J. Boerner.  1981.  Fire frequency and the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.  Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 108: 34-50.

Risser, P. G., J. R. Karr, and R. T. T. Forman.  1983.  Landscape Ecology: Directions and Approaches.  Special Publication 2, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, Illinois.  18 pages.

Forman, R. T. T.  1983.  Corridors in a landscape: their ecological structure and function.  Ekologia (Czechoslovakia) 2: 375-387.

Maguire, D. A. and R. T. T. Forman.  1983.  Herb cover effects on tree seedling patterns in a mature hemlock-hardwood forest.  Ecology 64: 1367-1380.

Forman, R. T. T. and J. Baudry.  1984.  Hedgerows and hedgerow networks in landscape ecology.  Environmental Management 8: 495-510.

Milne, B. T. and R. T. T. Forman.  1986.  Peninsulas in Maine: woody plant diversity, distance, and environmental patterns.  Ecology 67: 967-974.

Franklin, J. F. and R. T. T. Forman.  1987.  Creating landscape patterns by forest cutting: ecological consequences and principles.  Landscape Ecology 1: 5-18.

Hardt, R. A. and R. T. T. Forman.  1989.  Boundary form effects on woody colonization of reclaimed surface mines.  Ecology 70: 1252-1260.

Forman, R. T. T. and P. N. Moore.  1992.  Theoretical foundations for understanding boundaries in landscape mosaics.  In Landscape Boundaries: Consequences for Biotic Diversity and Ecological Flows.  A. J. Hansen and F. di Castri, editors.  Springer-Verlag, New York.  Pages 236-258.

Cantwell, M. D. and R. T. T. Forman.  1994.  Landscape graphs: ecological modeling with graph theory to detect configurations common to diverse landscapes.  Landscape Ecology 8: 239-255.

Forman, R. T. T. and S. K. Collinge.  1995.  The “spatial solution” to conserving biodiversity in landscapes and regions.  In Conservation of Faunal Diversity in Forested Landscapes.  R. M. DeGraaf and R. I. Miller, eds.  Chapman & Hall, London.  Pages 537-568.

Forman, R. T. T. and A. M. Hersperger.  1996.  Road ecology and road density in different landscapes, with international planning and mitigation solutions.  In Trends in Addressing Transportation Related Wildlife Mortality.  G. L. Evink, P. Garrett, D. Zeigler, and J. Berry, editors.  Publication FL-ER-58-96, Florida Department of Transportation, Tallahassee, Florida.  Pages 1-22.

Forman, R. T. T. and A. M. Hersperger.  1997.  Ecologia del paesaggio e pianificazione: una potente combinazione. (Landscape ecology and planning: a powerful combination).  Urbanistica 108: 61-66.

Forman, R. T. T. and L. E. Alexander.  1998.  Roads and their major ecological effects.  Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 29: 207-231.

Collinge, S. K. and R. T. T. Forman.  1998.  A conceptual model of land conversion processes: predictions and evidence from a microlandscape experiment with grassland insects.  Oikos 82: 66-84.

Forman, R. T. T. and R. D. Deblinger.  2000.  The ecological road-effect zone of a Massachusetts (USA) suburban highway.  Conservation Biology 14: 36-46.

Forman, R. T. T.  2000.  Estimate of the area affected ecologically by the road system in the United States.  Conservation Biology 14: 31-35.

Forman, R. T. T.  2002.  The missing catalyst: design and planning with ecology roots.  In Ecology and Design: Frameworks for Learning. B. R. Johnson and K. Hill, editors.  Island Press, Washington, D.C.  Pages 85-109.

Forman, R. T. T., B. Reineking, and A. M. Hersperger.  2002.  Road traffic and nearby grassland bird patterns in a suburbanizing landscape.  Environmental Management 29: 782-800.

Hersperger, A. M. and R. T. T. Forman.  2003.  Adjacency arrangement effects on plant diversity and composition in woodland patches.  Oikos 101: 279-290.

Forman, R. T. T.  2004.  Road ecology’s promise: What’s around the bend?  Environment 46: 8-21.

Forman, R. T. T., P. L. Reeve, H. Beyer, J. Bolduc, J. Ferguson, R. Johnson, A. Lukens, A. Proulx, P. Siebert, B. Stokey, M. Thornton, and K. Edwards.  2004.  Highlights of Concord’s Open Space and Recreation Plan 2004.  Natural Resources Commission, Concord, Massachusetts.  82 pp.

Forman, R. T. T.  2006.  Good and bad places for roads: effects of varying road and natural patterns on habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation.  In Proceedings of the 2005 International Conference on Ecology and Transportation.  Center for Transportation and the Environment, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina.  Pp. 164-174.

Forman, R. T. T. and R. I. McDonald.  2007.  A massive increase in roadside woody vegetation: goals, pros, and cons.  In International Conference on Ecology and Transportation 2007 Proceedings, Center for Transportation and the Environment, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina.  In press.

McDonald, R. I., P. Kareiva, and R. T. T. Forman.  2007.  Urbanization and its effect on global protected areas and biodiversity conservation.  In review.