LTER: Biodiversity, Disturbance and Ecosystem Functioning at the Prairie-Forest Border

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This is a renewal request of the Cedar Creek Natural History Area Long-term Ecological Research project. The nine co-investigators of the Cedar Creek LTER are using theory with long-term experiments and observations to examine (1) controls of biodiversity, community assembly and ecosystem functioning in upland ecosystems at the prairie-forest boundary, (2) the effects of both biodiversity and community composition on ecosystem processes, and (3) the impacts of major perturbations - including climatic variation, nitrogen deposition, elevated CO2, predator suppression, and changes in fire frequency - on species composition, diversity and ecosystem functioning. The approach combines studies of numerous species on several trophic levels with studies of the ecosystem processes that they affect and that affect them. This work is designed to combine and synthesize the often disparate approaches of population, community, and ecosystem ecology. This work will build on an 18-year record of research at this site. These studies focus on the various direct, indirect and feedback processes that control the composition, dynamics, and biodiversity of these grassland and savanna ecosystems, and on the effects of the composition and biodiversity of these ecosystems on their stability and functioning. Specifically, for the next six years, this team will continue and expand on five major sets of long-term research, including experimental and observational studies on biodiversity, nitrogen addition, fire frequency, trophic interactions, and successional dynamics and land use. The results of many of these studies are relevant to society because they will provide a better understanding of the long-term impacts of human actions on ecosystems. For instance, this research will help elucidate the factors that control biodiversity and the effects of the loss of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning. Studies of the impacts of nitrogen addition, of elevated CO2, of fire frequency, and of changes in trophic structure all address issues related to major ways that humans are impacting the environment.