Fire, Grazing, and Climatic Interactions in Tallgrass Prairie

火、放牧和火放牧的多学科研究 种群、群落和生态系统特性的相互作用 将继续在康扎草原，一个原生的高草草原 位于堪萨斯东北部。 拟议的研究建立和 扩展了对火灾频率影响的十年研究， 高草草原。 以往和拟议的长期毒性反应措施将 继续提供长期数据和基线研究，例如 这些实验引发了一系列密集的短期实验， 和操纵由国家科学基金会，美国宇航局，美国地质调查局和国家基金支持。 这些先前研究的结果已纳入 目前的LTER测量和问题。 的目标 拟议的研究是为了了解放牧如何影响生物 和生态系统的过程和模式所施加的火灾频率 在景观马赛克上，所有这些都受到了 多变的（可能是方向性的）气候体系。 一个新的， 联系地表水和地下水化学的高级研究 将与正在进行的测量相结合， 注重生态研究。 新的重点包括 地形效应和景观相互作用影响 生态现象;具体而言， 地貌形态和生态限制（火灾和/或 从个体生物的角度来看， 分水岭级别。 这些努力是必要的，如果生态学家 将他们的研究整合到生物过程可能 与气候模型相结合。 Konza Prairie LTER研究团队已经做出了重要的 对大气-生物圈相互作用领域的贡献， 对这项研究的机构支持是突出的。

A multidisciplinary study of fire, grazing and fire-grazing interactions on population, community and ecosystem properties will be continued on Konza Prairie, a native tallgrass prairie site in northeastern Kansas. The proposed research builds and expands upon a ten-year study of fire frequency effects on tallgrass prairie. Previous and proposed LTER efforts will continue to provide long-term data and baseline studies such as those that spawned a series of intensive short-term experiments and manipulations supported by NSF, NASA, USGS and state funds. Results from these previous studies have been incorporated into current LTER measurements and questions. The goal of the proposed research is to understand how grazing influences biotic and ecosystem processes and patterns imposed by fire frequency over the landscape mosaic, all of which are subjected to a variable (and possibly directional) climate regime. A new, landscape-level study linking surface and ground water chemistry will interface with ongoing measurements to provide a landscape emphasis to ecological research. The new focus involves topotedaphic effects and landscape interactions influencing ecological phenomena; specifically, the relationship between geomorphic patterns and ecological constraints (fire and/or grazing) from the perspective of the individual organism to the watershed level. These efforts are necessary if ecologists are to integrate their research to scales where biotic processes may adequately be incorporated with climate models. The Konza Prairie LTER research team has made important contributions on the area of atmosphere-biosphere interactions, Institutional support for this research is outstanding.