Long-Term Ecological Research in Tallgrass Prairie: The Konza Prairie LTER Program

小行星9632851克纳普 一个长期的生态研究计划将继续和扩大在东北堪萨斯的孔扎草原LTER网站。 Konza Prairie是一个原始的高草草原，可以说是地球上研究最深入的草原。这个有着15年历史的基础广泛的研究项目包括从人口、社区、生态系统和景观生态学层面的研究。这些研究通过一个主题联系在一起， 所有 主要的非生物和 生物 影响这个生态系统的因素。我们的中心假设是，火灾，放牧和气候变化是必不可少的，负责高草草原的结构和功能。 与许多其他草原相比 在生态过程受单一资源约束的情况下（例如， 水）、有机物到生态系统过程 在高草草原的动态是各种限制资源（水，光，氮）的产品。这些主要限制性资源的变化和转换是由现在和历史上的火灾、放牧和气候状况造成的。 由于这种复杂性，并且由于放牧和火灾制度在世界各地的草原系统中得到管理，来自Konza Prairie LTER计划的数据不仅与了解这片草原有关， 更广泛的生态问题，如稳定性，多样性 土地利用、生物多样性和气候变化之间的问题和相互作用。 拟议的研究包括继续进行长期的火灾和放牧研究，以及侧重于关键过程和机制的短期研究。 拟议中的新研究包括对火灾季节影响的研究，一项火灾处理逆转实验，其中每年燃烧或未燃烧20年的流域将逆转其处理，野牛与牛作为主要食草动物的比较研究，以及一项长期的研究。 研究放牧、火灾、气候变化和农业如何影响高草草原的年度碳、水和能量收支。 后一项研究解决的一个关键问题是高草草原土壤是否是碳的汇或源，以及土地利用（火灾，放牧）和气候如何影响碳预算。

9632851 Knapp A long-term ecological research program will be continued and expanded at the Konza Prairie LTER site in NE Kansas. Konza Prairie, a pristine tallgrass prairie is, arguably, the most intensively studied grassland site on earth. The 15 year old, broadly-based research program encompasses studies from the population, community, ecosystem and landscape ecology levels. These studies are linked by a theme that includes all the major abiotic and biotic factors influencing this ecosystem. Our central hypothesis is that fire, grazing and climatic variability are essential and responsible for the structure and function of tallgrass prairie. In contrast to many other grasslands where ecological processes are constrained by a single resource (e.g., water), organismic to ecosystem processes and dynamics in tallgrass prairie are products of a variety of limiting resources (water, light, nitrogen). Variability in, and switching among, these primary limiting resources are caused by both present and historical fire, grazing and climatic regimes. As a result of this complexity, and because grazing and fire regimes are managed in grassland systems worldwide, data from the Konza Prairie LTER program have relevance not only for understanding this grassland, but for broader ecological issues such as stability diversity questions and interactions between land-use, biodiversity and climate change. The proposed research includes continuation of long-term fire and grazing studies as well as short-term studies focused on key processes and mechanisms. Proposed new research includes studies of the effect of fire season, a fire-treatment reversal experiment in which watersheds that have been annually burned or unburned for 20 years will have their treatments reversed, comparative studies of bison vs. cattle as the dominant grazers, and a long-term study of how grazing, fire, climatic variability and agriculture affect annual carbon, water and energy budgets in tallgrass prairie. A key question addressed by the latter study is whether or not tallgrass prairie soils are a sink or source for carbon and how land-use (fire, grazing) and climate affects the carbon budget.