NSF Org:	IOS Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems
Recipient:	KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Initial Amendment Date:	November 29, 1996
Latest Amendment Date:	July 30, 2002
Award Number:	9632851
Award Instrument:	Continuing Grant
Program Manager:	William E. Zamer IOS  Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems BIO  Directorate for Biological Sciences
Start Date:	November 1, 1996
End Date:	December 31, 2003 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$3,360,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$4,063,236.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 1997 = $570,000.00 FY 1998 = $635,000.00 FY 1999 = $846,994.00 FY 2000 = $636,232.00 FY 2001 = $675,000.00 FY 2002 = $700,010.00
History of Investigator:	Alan Knapp (Principal Investigator) aknapp@colostate.edu John Blair (Co-Principal Investigator) John Briggs (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	Kansas State University 1601 VATTIER STREET MANHATTAN KS  US  66506-2504 (785)532-6804
Sponsor Congressional District:	01
Primary Place of Performance:	Kansas State University 1601 VATTIER STREET MANHATTAN KS  US  66506-2504
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	01
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	CFMMM5JM7HJ9
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s):	Population & Community Ecology, LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH, BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH COLLECTION, CONNECTIONS, AFRICA, NEAR EAST, & SO ASIA
Primary Program Source:	app-0100  01000102DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT app-0102  app-0197  app-0198  app-0199
Program Reference Code(s):	1066, 1128, 1306, 1325, 5928, 9169, 9177, 9178, 9251, EGCH, SMET
Program Element Code(s):	112800, 119500, 119700, 192200, 597600
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.074

ABSTRACT

9632851 Knapp A long-term ecological research program will be continued and expanded at the Konza Prairie LTER site in NE Kansas. Konza Prairie, a pristine tallgrass prairie is, arguably, the most intensively studied grassland site on earth. The 15 year old, broadly-based research program encompasses studies from the population, community, ecosystem and landscape ecology levels. These studies are linked by a theme that includes all the major abiotic and biotic factors influencing this ecosystem. Our central hypothesis is that fire, grazing and climatic variability are essential and responsible for the structure and function of tallgrass prairie. In contrast to many other grasslands where ecological processes are constrained by a single resource (e.g., water), organismic to ecosystem processes and dynamics in tallgrass prairie are products of a variety of limiting resources (water, light, nitrogen). Variability in, and switching among, these primary limiting resources are caused by both present and historical fire, grazing and climatic regimes. As a result of this complexity, and because grazing and fire regimes are managed in grassland systems worldwide, data from the Konza Prairie LTER program have relevance not only for understanding this grassland, but for broader ecological issues such as stability diversity questions and interactions between land-use, biodiversity and climate change. The proposed research includes continuation of long-term fire and grazing studies as well as short-term studies focused on key processes and mechanisms. Proposed new research includes studies of the effect of fire season, a fire-treatment reversal experiment in which watersheds that have been annually burned or unburned for 20 years will have their treatments reversed, comparative studies of bison vs. cattle as the dominant grazers, and a long-term study of how grazing, fire, climatic variability and agriculture affect annual carbon, water and energy budgets in tallgrass prairie. A key question addressed by the latter study is whether or not tallgrass prairie soils are a sink or source for carbon and how land-use (fire, grazing) and climate affects the carbon budget.

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