To address the potential interactive effects of fire, aboveground biomass removal, and nutrient amendments on above- and belowground responses, a long-term field experiment was initiated in 1986 as part of the Konza Prairie Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program.
Soil chemical and physical characteristics are quantified on selected LTER watersheds adjacent to LTER vegetation sampling plots. Sampling was initiated in 1982, and is repeated every five years. A subset of variables (e.g., pH, Bray extractable P, total C, exchangeable cations) is measured on all sample dates, while additional specific variables (e.g., bulk density, soil texture, CaCO3 content, trace metals, extractable inorganic N) are measured less frequently. Methods for C and N analysis have changed over time.
PBG datasets are associated with a long-term, large-scale study that is addressing the effects of fire-grazing interactions in the context of a Patch-Burn Grazing management system designed to promote grassland heterogeneity. Effects of patch-burn grazing management on plant and animal diversity and the nature and variety of wildlife habitat are being assessed in two replicate management units, each consisting of three pastures (watersheds) designated C03A/C03B/C03C and C3SA/C3SB/C3SC. In each patch-burn grazing unit, one watershed is burned and two that are left unburned in a given year.
We conducted a “home vs. away” plant-soil feedback greenhouse experiment using two C3 grass species (Bromus inermis and Pascopyrum smithii) grown in soil collected from Konza Prairie. We used a closed-circuit CO2 trapping method and isotopic analysis to differentiate between root-derived and SOM-derived CO2 production. We investigated how soil chemistry and soil bacterial communities differed in soils with a history of B. inermis vs soils with a history of P. smithii.
This dataset contains carbon and nitrogen concentrations and stocks in total soil organic matter and its fractions from the Konza Prairie Irrigation Transect Experiment. The dataset also includes pyrogenic organic matter C and N, as well as microbial amino sugars and root quality measurements. Data are availble for irrigated and control plots. Total pyrogenic and unburned soil organic matter C and N are availble for both the upland and lowland positions at 0-5, 5-15, and 15-30cm depth increments.
