THE TALLGRASS PRAIRIE OF THE FLINT HILLS OF KANSAS

哈奈特堪萨斯州立大学正在制作一部两小时的电视纪录片，拍摄地点是堪萨斯州弗林特山的高草草原，这里曾经是北美最大的生物群落的最后遗迹。这个地区幸存下来只是因为它的岩石土壤太适合农民的犁。新的科学研究现在开始确定草原对人类的价值：它们在全球气候学中的有益作用，以及它们如何为土壤、物种相互作用、生物多样性和生态过程的研究提供实验室。大量的研究在康扎草原研究自然区进行了20多年，这是美国国家科学基金会持续时间最长的长期生态研究基地。在康扎收集的科学数据将构成影片内容的主干，因为它考察了：高草草原的地质和人类历史，特别是野牛的迁移和欧洲牛的引入以及行作物种植；大草原形成的弗林特丘陵地区的当代文化和经济；各种范围管理方法的生态影响，以及如何从草原中尽可能多地收集价值，同时为子孙后代保护草原的各种科学和社会方面的争论。该项目的PI将由生物学教授兼康扎草原自然研究区主任大卫·哈特内特担任。这部电影将由独立制片人艾米·拉拉比（Aimee Larrabee）和约翰·奥特曼（John Altman）联合制作，前者曾与英国广播公司（BBC）联合制作过几部获奖纪录片，后者是独立制片人，曾为PBS、A&amp；E、Bravo和探索频道制作过纪录片。由19名成员组成的咨询委员会将由Hartnett博士、康扎草原研究自然区域LTER项目主任、堪萨斯州立大学生物学教授Alan Knapp和堪萨斯州立大学生物学副教授、全国公认的土壤生态学和草地营养动力学领域的领导者John Blair领导。

9804328 Hartnett Kansas State University is producing a two-hour television documentary on the Tallgrass Prairie of the Flint Hills of Kansas, the last remnant of what was once the largest biome in North America. This area has survived only because its rocky soil was too much of a match for the farmer's plow. New scientific research is now beginning to ascertain just how valuable grasslands are to humankind: their salutary role in global climatology and how they provide laboratories for study of soils, species interactions, biodiversity, and ecological processes. A significant amount of this research as been conducted for more than twenty years at the Konza Prairie Research Natural Area, the longest continuous Long-Term Ecological Research site of the National Science Foundation. The scientific data that have been compiled at Konza will form the backbone of the film's content as it examines: the geological and human history of the Tallgrass Prairie, especially the displacement of the bison and the introduction of European cattle and row crop farming; the contemporary culture and economy of the Flint Hills regions which the prairie has formed; and the ecological impact of various approaches to range management, as well as various scientific and social aspects of the debate over how to glean as much value as possible from the grasslands while preserving them for future generations. The PI for the project will be David Hartnett, Professor of Biology and Director of Konza Prairie Research Natural Area. The film will be co-produced by Aimee Larrabee, an independent filmmaker who has co-produced several award-winning documentaries with the BBC, and John Altman, an independent filmmaker who has produced for PBS, A&E, Bravo, and the Discovery Channel. The 19 member advisory committee will be lead by Dr. Hartnett and by Alan Knapp, Project Director of the Konza Prairie Research Natural Area LTER program and Professor Biology at Kansas State University, and John Blair, Associate Professor of Biology at Kansas State University and nationally recognized leader in the field of soil ecology and grassland nutrient dynamics.