LTREB Renewal: Long-term studies of secondary succession and community assembly in the prairie-forest ecotone of eastern Kansas

长期研究作为一种评估和预测生态系统对多种全球变化的反应的手段越来越有价值。这项研究计划在堪萨斯草原进行了两个长期的田间试验，以评估土壤肥力、植物物种相互作用和控制废弃农地上植被恢复、生物多样性和生态系统功能的区域过程的相互作用。这些长期实验的结果将继续产生对生态群落在受到干扰和应对过量营养后的动态和功能的基本见解。研究结果还将为本土草原的管理、保护和恢复提供参考。该项目将继续为堪萨斯大学野外站(KUFS)的发展做出贡献，补充KUFS正在进行的草原和恢复生态学研究，并支持研究生、本科生和高中生的教育和培训。这些长期实验涉及通过施肥操纵土壤养分有效性，并采用多物种繁殖增加来评估植物繁殖有效性在植物群落和生态系统动态调节中的贡献。实验1涉及土壤氮(N)和磷(P)的因子操作，建立在研究开始前耕作的场地上，允许在裸地开始的次生演替的背景下检查植物群落组装。实验2涉及氮素和年度干草的析因处理。这项实验与实验1的土壤资源和繁殖池的操作相似，但在不同的初始条件下进行，并在干草管理和草原干草草甸恢复的背景下进行。这些互补性实验共同解决了群落生态学中的一系列问题和假说，这些问题和假说来自将继续指导研究的六个相关主题：1)物种共存和多样性；2)生态演替的模式和机制；3)群落聚集和元群落动态；4)群落结构和生态系统功能之间的联系；5)草原恢复和管理；6)群落和生态系统生态学方面的合作研究。这两个实验的继续抽样再持续五年，将把核心数据集(植物物种丰度和生产力数据)扩展到21年的时间序列，并允许在20年内综合植被动态。

Long-term studies are increasingly valuable as a means to evaluate and predict the responses of ecosystems to multiple global changes. This research program employs two long-term field experiments in Kansas grassland to evaluate the interplay of soil fertility, plant species interactions and regional processes governing the recovery of vegetation, biodiversity and ecosystem function on abandoned agricultural lands. Results from these long-term experiments will continue to yield basic insights into the dynamics and functioning of ecological communities following disturbance and in response to excess nutrients. The results will also inform the management, conservation and restoration of native grasslands. The project will continue to contribute to the development of the University of Kansas Field Station (KUFS), complement ongoing research at KUFS in grassland and restoration ecology, and support the education and training of graduate, undergraduate and high school students.These long-term experiments involve the manipulation of soil nutrient availability via fertilization and employ multi-species propagule additions to evaluate the contribution of plant propagule availability in the regulation of plant community and ecosystem dynamics. Experiment 1 involves factorial manipulations of soil Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) and was established on a site that was plowed prior to the initiation of the study, permitting examination of plant community assembly in the context of secondary succession initiated on bare soil. Experiment 2 involves factorial manipulations of N and annual haying. This experiment parallels Experiment 1 with manipulations of soil resources and propagule pools, but does so with different initial conditions and in the context of hay management and prairie hay meadow restoration. Together these complementary experiments address a range of questions and hypotheses in community ecology emerging from six related themes that will continue to guide research: 1) species coexistence and diversity; 2) patterns and mechanisms of ecological succession; 3) community assembly and meta-community dynamics; 4) linkage between community structure and ecosystem function; 5) grassland restoration and management; 6) collaborative research in community and ecosystem ecology. Continued sampling of both experiments for another five years will extend the core data sets (plant species abundances and productivity data) to a 21-year time series and permit comprehensive syntheses of vegetation dynamics over two-decades.