The proposed research would continue and expand a comprehensive, long-term program in grassland ecology at Konza Prairie. The 20-year old, broadly-based KNZ LTER program crosses multiple ecological levels and spatial and temporal scales. Since its inception, the overarching integrates fire, grazing and climatic variability as essential and interactive factors responsible for the structure and function of tallgrass prairie. Organism-to-ecosystem processes and dynamics at KNZ are products of spatial and temporal variability in multiple limiting resources, primarily water, light and N. The interplay of these three disturbances across a heterogeneous landscape leads to the high species diversity and complex, non-linear behavior characteristic of mesic grassland ecosystems. Results from KNZ have relevance not only for understanding grasslands worldwide, but for broader ecological issues including human-caused global change.
Specific goals for LTER V are to expand the strong core Konza LTER experiments on fire, grazing and climatic variability begun over 20 years ago, with site-based and inter-site studies and synthesis activities; 2) to further develop mechanistic and predictive understanding of grassland dynamics with particular emphasis on responses of grassland ecosystems to multiple global change factors; and 3) to use KNZ results to develop and test general ecological theory (e.g., diversity-stability relationships, community invasibility, top-down vs. bottom-up controls, soil-plant community feedback models, river continuum model).
New studies of the causes and consequences of land-cover change in the region will be initiated, incorporating both sociological and ecological perspectives. Short-term experiments focused on key processes and mechanisms underlying responses to changing fire, grazing and climatic regimes will continue to be essential components. Broader impacts of the research include training a future generation of ecologists, contributing to public education, and development of a knowledge base essential for the ecologically sound management of grassland ecosystems worldwide.
