Throughout our sixth funding cycle, the Konza Prairie Long-Term Ecological Research program continued to use long-term observations and experiments, coupled with complementary shorter term studies, to build a comprehensive and detailed understanding of ecological processes in tallgrass prairie and other grasslands, and to contribute to general scientific advances in ecology and related disciplines. We continued multi-decade watershed-scale fire and grazing studies in order to understand how grasslands respond to natural disturbance regimes, changes in land-use, and alternative management approaches. Our research provided new insights into the ecological consequences of woody plant expansion in grasslands, a critical land-cover change in grasslands globally. We also expanded studies of how natural climatic variability and potential climate changes affect grasslands, and added new experiments to test ecological theory and its application to grassland restoration. We added new experiments and new measurements to better understand how belowground plant and microbial processes regulate aboveground plant species composition, plant growth, and net uptake and storage of carbon dioxide. In total, these long-term experiments provided important new insights into how grasslands respond in the short- and long-term to multiple environmental changes.

In this funding cycle, we made many significant discoveries regarding the structure and functioning of grassland ecosystems. We learned that while fire and grazing have some comparable effects in grasslands (removal of aboveground biomass), many community and ecosystem responses differ. We identified mechanisms underlying patchy use of grassland landscapes by grazers, and how different consumer groups respond to the heterogeneity generated by fire-grazing interactions. We began new studies to test whether this information can be applied to support higher biodiversity in managed grazing lands. We identified thresholds in fire return intervals beyond which grasslands may rapidly convert to shrublands or woodlands, and we documented the ecological impacts of these land-cover conversions (losses of biodiversity, changes in water use and carbon cycling). We also found that historic land-use legacies and initial land-cover states affect the trajectories of response to changing fire regimes. We expanded studies of the impact of fire and grazers on grassland streams, and started a new long-term woody vegetation removal experiment to better understand how woody plant expansion along stream channels alters stream communities, stream hydrology and water quality. We continued two of the longest running experimental climate manipulations in the world. We discovered that grasslands are sensitive to changes in both amounts and timing of rainfall, and that shifts to more extreme rainfall patterns (longer dry periods and heavier rainfall events) reduce grassland productivity and can alter plant community composition and the genetic composition of plant populations. Using results from these and other long-term experiments, we developed a new theoretical framework for describing and understanding non-linear and delayed communities and ecosystem responses to chronic environmental changes.

We contributed to broader impacts in a number of important ways. We provided education and training for students at all levels. We provided numerous training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as post-doctoral scholars. We supported collaborative studies with scientists and students in Africa and South America. Our Schoolyard LTER program engaged local K-12 teachers and students in hand-on science learning activities. We delivered numerous presentations and talks annually to various civic groups as well as educational, professional, and conservation organizations and agencies. We provided guided public tours and Visitors’...

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