Research Infrastructure: Increasing Capacity at the University of Louisiana Lafayette Ecology Center

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The tall grass prairie and long leaf pine ecosystems of the southeastern United States are unique and biologically diverse ecosystems, but have limited representation in terms of number of active field stations. This project boosts the capacity, capabilities and profile of a field station at the intersections of these ecosystems – the Ecology Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (www.ecology.louisiana.edu) – by providing funds for a new farm tractor, analytical equipment, and replacement of greenhouse equipment. The location of the Ecology Center makes it an ideal place to study how these habitats, including plants, pollinator and wildlife, will respond to changing climate regimes. The equipment and improved facilities will support research and education on how climate change effects these native habitats and the species that use them. The facilities will be used by faculty, students, and community members. The project will purchase a new farm tractor that will be used to expand the current experimental field space of the Center from 6 ha to 18 ha of usable fields. These experimental fields will be used to conduct experiments on how changing rainfall regimes will alter the response of the tall grass prairie and long leaf pine habitat. The greenhouse renovations will be used to install heating and cooling capabilities as well as a state-of-the-art watering system that can be used to conduct controlled experiments. The elemental analyzer, microplate reader, and ultra-low freezer will be used to analyze and store chemical and genetic samples taken from the field plots and greenhouse experiments.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.