LTREB: Effects of Warming and Clipping on Coupling of Carbon and Water Cycles in a Tallgrass Prairie

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Ecosystems are providing critical ecological services to the human society. The services are likely to be strongly affected by climate change and biofuel production, but these effects have not been carefully studied over long time periods. The primary goal of this project is to assess long-term impacts of climate warming and biomass harvest on ecosystem services related to biofuel feedstock production, carbon sequestration, and water cycling, and biodiversity. The project will continue a long-term warming and biomass harvest experiment, which has been conducted in the southern Great Plains, USA, since November 1999. The investigators will quantify biomass production; soil carbon sequestration; partitioning of precipitation to evaporation, transpiration, and runoff; water use efficiency for plant biomass growth; length of growing seasons, and plant biodiversity in response to climate warming and biomass harvest. Results from this study on changes in runoff, freshwater supply, soil fertility, biofuel feedstock production, carbon sequestration, regulation of climate change by ecosystems, and biodiversity in response to climate warming and biomass harvest are highly relevant to the well-being of society and have implications for diverse environmental policies. This project also trains the next generation of scientists and will improve K-12 and university education.