Our project was designed to test if woody removal in a riparian zone allowed the system to rebound to a grassland stream state. We hypothesized that removal would increase stream width due to increased erosion without plant cover.
Our project was designed to test if woody removal in a riparian zone allowed the system to rebound to a grassland stream state. We hypothesized that removal would increase light and decrease moss biomass.
Our project was designed to test if woody removal in a riparian zone allowed the system to rebound to a grassland state. We hypothesized that removal would decrease organic matter input into streams.
In fall of 2010 in watershed N2B ( 39.088976°, -96.588599°), we established plant community plots to assess the potential ability of the riparian zone to shift to a grassland state based on cutting alone and cutting with replanting. The three treatments were 1) naturally open riparian grassland before the removal, 2) areas cleared of woody vegetation, and 3) areas cleared of woody vegetation and seeded with prairie plant species. The addition of the seeded treatment was designed to address if recovery of grassland vegetation is hindered by propagule limitation.
Woody plant expansion is well-known to alter plant community composition, often including a decrease in plant biodiversity, such as species richness. This dataset was used to determine if plant communities are able to “bounce back” after repeated woody plant removal, returning to plant community more similar to tallgrass prairie without woody plant encroachment. Woody plant encroachment can affect plant communities in two key ways: increasing competition for light and limiting grassland propagules (if woody encroachment is widespread).
The goal of this project was the measure changes in woody vegetation cover over time, in riparian and non-riparian locations. The study was retrospective, using high resolution aerial imagery to identify areas dominated by grasslands, shrubs, trees, and woody plant that could not be differentiated as shrubs or trees (referred to as “unk” or “unknown”). These data help us understand rates of woody plant cover over time and how these changes might affect other populations (e.g., avifauna) and processes (e.g. hydrology).
Woody encroachment, or invasion of woody plants, is rapidly shifting tallgrass prairie into shrub and evergreen dominated ecosystems, mainly due to exclusion of fire. Tracking the pace and extent of woody encroachment is difficult because shrubs and small trees are much smaller than the coarse resolution (>10m2) of common remote sensed images.
Plant survival, growth, reproduction, and recruitment of 4 forb species (Amorpha canescens, Echinacea angustifolia, Aster oblongifolius, Kuhnia eupatorioides) were estimated annually within permanent transects in 20 watersheds, starting in 2020.
Purpose: Litter decomposition is an important component of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling, and rates of mass loss and nutrient release are sensitive to current climate conditions. Growing evidence suggests that past climate conditions can exert legacies on soil C and N cycling, but little is known about how belowground decomposition dynamics relate to these climate legacies.
Data set contains summaries of the number of individuals of each species of small mammal captured (relative abundance) on each trapping grid. Each record contains date, treatment, grid, trap station, species, specimen number, recapture status, specimen disposition, external body measurements (where applicable), reproductive information, and miscellaneous associated comments.
The objective of this study was to characterize spatial and physical attributes of bison wallows at the Konza Prairie Biological Station in northeastern Kansas. We used aerial imagery from two different years (2011 and 2019) to assess the abundance and spatial distribution of wallows in relation to fire frequency, elevation, and slope.
This dataset includes captures of small-bodied landbirds captured via passive mist-netting efforts. The objectives are to (a) initiate a long-term survey of the non-breeding birds of the site, (b) understand the behavioral and physiological mechanisms that allow birds to cope with the unpredictable, variable, and often harsh conditions during winter months, and (c) provide a training platform for students.
Like CPB01 and PBG051, this dataset includes records of bird species based on line transect sampling.
Evolutionary history plays a key role driving patterns of trait variation across plant species. For scaling and modeling purposes, grass species are typically organized into C3 versus C4 plant functional types (PFTs). PFT groupings may obscure important functional differences among species. Rather, grouping grasses by evolutionary lineage may better represent grass functional diversity.
Data describe the carbon and nitrogen pools in combustible aboveground litter, and in shoots, roots, litter, and soil at the end of the growing season at the Belowground Plot Experiment in 2021.
Data describe the activity of soil extracellular enzymes collected approximately every month in 2015 from the Belowground Plot Experiment. The measured enzymes depolymerize soil organic matter to release labile carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. Soil carbon and nitrogen were measured in July 2015 only, since these soil variables are not expected to change monthly.
Losses in freshwater fish diversity might produce a loss in important ecological services provided by fishes in particular habitats. An important gap in our understanding of ecosystem services by fishes is the influence of individuals from different size classes, which is predicted based on known ontogenetic shifts in habitat and diet. I used twenty experimental stream mesocosms located on Konza Prairie Biological Station (KPBS), KS, USA to assess the influence of fish size on ecosystem properties.
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.
Soil sampling pits across three hillslope positions - toeslope, backslope, and summit - were dug in 2020 in watershed N4D (burned every 4 years) and N1D (burned annually) to characterize the impacts of woody encroachment on subsurface soil physical, chemical, and biological properties. Pits were hand-dug to 120 cm in the toeslope position and to 60 cm deep at the backslope and summit positions. Soil pits in N4D were dug directly under dogwood shrubs (Cornus drumondii) while pits in N1B were dug under grasses and forbs.
ShRaMPs (Shrub Rainout Manipulation Plots) is a drought x fire experiment aimed at understanding the interactive effects of drought and fire frequency on tallgrass prairie communities experiencing varying degrees of shrub encroachment. Passive rainout shelters were constructed over existing, mature shrub islands and co-existing herbaceous communities on neighboring 1-year and 4-year burn watersheds (K1B and K4A). Shelters were either 'control' (ambient precipitation) or 'drought' (~50% precipitation reduction).
We report the results of a 30-year experiment at Konza Prairie, a mesic grassland in the Central Great Plains, under fire suppression (20-year fire return intervals) and experimental presence/absence of bison. Based on remote sensing, the land cover of deciduous trees was lower (6% grazed vs. 16% ungrazed) in bison-grazed areas. There was no difference between shrub land cover (42% grazed and 41%) and herbaceous land cover was higher in the grazed vs the ungrazed (51% grazed and 40% ungrazed).
This project addresses the long-term effects of fire (annual burning or fire suppression), mowing, and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilization on the structure and composition of a tallgrass prairie nematode community during 30 years of experimental treatments.
Using herbarium specimens spanning 133 years and field-collected measurements, we assessed intraspecific trait (leaf structure and stomata) variability from grass species in the Great Plains of North America. We focused on two widespread, closely-related grasses from tribe Paniceae: Dichanthelium oligosanthes subsp. scribnerianum (C3) and Panicum virgatum (C4). Thirty-one specimens per taxon were sampled from local herbaria from the years 1887 – 2013 to assess trait responses across time to changes in atmospheric [CO2] and growing season precipitation and temperature.
Long-term oxygen and hydrogen stable isotope (δ18O and δ2H) records for precipitation, stream water, and groundwater at Konza Prairie Biological Station.
Plant xylem water samples were collected from Cornus drummondii (rough-leaf dogwood), Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem), Quercus macrocarpa (bur oak), and Quercus muehlenbergii (chinquapin oak) during the summer of 2016. Soil cores were also collected during the summer of 2016 to collect soil water from the surface to 200 cm depth. Isotope values (δ18O and δ2H) were analyzed for each water sample to determine depth of plant water uptake.
Height of seed release values recorded at Konza Prairie Biological Station (2022-2024) and terminal velocity measurements of seeds collected from those same species. Intended to for seed dispersal estimates.
A variety of leaf-level physiological and structural traits were collected on seven species of encroaching shrubs at Konza Prairie Biological Station during the summer of 2022. Shrub species spanned an order of magnitude in abundance. These data were used to assess if the most abundant encroaching species at Konza Prairie have common growth forms and physiology or unique traits that differentiate their carbon- and water-use strategies.
