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openCC0Jul 2021View details →

Biogeochemical data collected in the eastern marl prairies of the Everglades (Florida, USA) before and after fire, between the years 2018 and 2021

The data included in this database were collected within a project funded by Everglades National Park (ENP). The project was aimed at understanding how fire, characterized by different intensities, differentially affects nutrient cycling in oligotrophic wetlands with distinct levels of phosphorus limitation. The data were collected in the eastern part of the Everglades, close to the boundary of ENP, in South Florida (Homestead). This part of ENP is characterized by marl soils, which are shallow (often less than 10 cm) and C-poor. The data were collected at two sites: one site was more oligotrophic (LP), while the other one had a certain degree of phosphorus enrichment (HP). The database includes date and location (i.e. site and plot) of each sampling event, surface water physio-chemistry, vegetation composition and structure, including dominant macrophyte estimated biomass, litter and root decomposition rates, and carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus concentrations in the soil, flocculent detrital material, periphyton, sawgrass leaves and roots, and the water column. All these data were collected at different times between September 2018 and March 2021, before and after a prescribed fire that was carried out in February 2020 and which burned all the plots. Each row within the database identifies a unique combination of date and sampling plot.

openCC0Dec 2024View details →

AGW01 Long-term measurement of groundwater physical and chemical properties from wells on watersheds N04D and N01B at Konza Prairie

In 1988 and 1990, 31 wells were installed at 20 sites within watershed N04D at Konza Prairie Biological Station to allow long-term monitoring of groundwater physical and chemical properties. Subsequently, four additional wells were installed in N04D in 1997, and five wells were installed in an adjacent watershed, N01B, in 2020. Most of the wells are nested to include wells completed in alluvium/colluvium and two Permian limestone units, the Morrill Limestone and the Eiss Limestone. The wells are completed along transects perpendicular to the main drainage in each watershed. Every four to six weeks, water samples and water depth measurements have been collected at subsets of the wells in N04D since 1991 and in N01B since 2021. At the same time, stream samples are collected from the outlet in N04D and N01B when the stream is flowing, as well as two upstream locations in N04D. Moreover, since 2024, stream samples are also collected at the same time from the outlet of a third watershed, N02B, when the steam is flowing. Methodologies have evolved since 1991 as detailed in the method description, though the primary goal of assessing groundwater and surface water major ion composition, pH, temperature, and groundwater level has been constant since 1991.

openCC0Oct 2025View details →

ASD06 Stream discharge measured at the flumes on watershed N02B at Konza Prairie

Stream discharge is measured on a catchment (N02B), with 2-year fire return interval and grazed by bison since 1992. Measurements are taken at 5 minute intervals at a triangular throated flume. The prairie streams are 3rd-order and are intermittent. Daily and stormflow discharge records are available.

openCC0Jun 2023View details →

NUT01 Nutrient Network: Investigating the roles of nutrient availability and vertebrate herbivory on grassland structure and function at Konza Prairie

The goals and focal research questions are copied below from the Nutrient Network website. More information can be found at nutnet.org. NutNet focal research questions: (1) How general is our current understanding of productivity-diversity relationships? (2) To what extent are plant production and diversity co-limited by multiple nutrients in herbacoues-dominated communities? (3) Under what conditions do grazers or fertilization control plant biomass, diversity, and composition? NutNet goals: (1) To collect data from a broad range of sites in a consistent manner to allow direct comparisons of environment-productivity-diversity relationships among systems around the world. This is currently occurring at each site in the network and, when these data are compiled, will allow us to provide new insights into several important, unanswered questions in ecology. (2) To implement a cross-site experiment requiring only nominal investment of time and resources by each investigator, but quantifying community and ecosystem responses in a wide range of herbaceous-dominated ecosystems (i.e., desert grasslands to arctic tundra).

GFE01 Ghost Fire: an experimental manipulation of fire effects on multi-trophic community dynamics in the ungrazed uplands of unburned and annually burned watersheds of Konza Prairie

Frequent burning is a common land practice in many grasslands worldwide, and this land use strategy has large impacts on a wide variety of ecosystem functions and services. Fire in tallgrass prairie, in the absence of grazing, alters plant community composition, decreases richness, and increases plant production. Proposed mechanisms for the changes in community composition and function are that fire decreases N availability (through volatilization) and removes litter (thereby increasing light availability and decreasing soil moisture). However, few experiments explicitly test these mechanisms, and those that do monitor short-term effects.Yet, the strength of these mechanisms likely differ over longer time scales, as other ecosystem attributes (e.g., plant community composition) change through time. Ghost Fire aims to determine the mechanisms behind community and ecosystem differences between annually burned grassland and 20-year burned grassland (hereafter called unburned) by experimentally manipulating N availability and litter. We impose litter and N conditions found in unburned grassland onto annually burned grassland, and litter and N conditions typically found in annually burned grassland onto unburned grassland. Importantly, Ghost Fire monitors both below-and above-ground plant community and ecosystem dynamics as well other dimensions of the ecosystem including microbial and mycorrhizal communities and insect community composition and biomass.

AMC01 Growing season microclimate by topographic position for annually-burned and 4-yr burned watersheds at Konza Prairie

Dataset contains 30min averages of many variables used to record changes in microclimatic conditions. Microclimate sensor stations were arrayed in discrete topographic positions (upland, slope, lowland) in 4 watersheds: 1D, 1B, 4B, 4F. No microclimate sensor stations were present in upland-1D or lowland-4B because eddy flux towers are present in these locations. Similar microclimate data is available from these flux towers during the time period of this study.

HRE01 Environmental heterogeneity restoration experiment at Konza Prairie

We manipulated key resources that influence plant diversity in tallgrass prairie (i.e., soil depth and nitrogen availability) to increase environmental heterogeneity prior to sowing native prairie species into a former agricultural field. We compared variability in nutrient availability, aboveground annual net primary productivity (ANPP), and the composition of species between replicate plots containing soil heterogeneity manipulations and plots with no resource manipulations (n = 4 per treatment) during the first 15 yr of community assembly as a test of the “environmental heterogeneity hypothesis.”

FWE01 Effects of browsing and fire on woody encroachment at Konza Prairie

Woody encroachment into grasslands, savannas, and steppes have become a management and conservation concern worldwide because of the ability of woody plants to change ecosystems through decreases in biodiversity, alterations in water and nutrient cycles as well as decreases in forage production and quality. In grasslands, woody encroachment can be categorized into two groups: non-resprouting species that can be killed with fire and resprouting species that cannot be killed with fire. Resprouting species require additional active management strategies to remove them from encroached grasslands. In this study we investigate physiological, population and community effects of continuous browsing and fire on Cornus drummondii, a resprouting woody species. Through monitoring the shrub’s physiology, population and the surrounding plant community composition within these treatments we hope to understand how to best prescribe restoration methods for restoring the tallgrass prairie.

RMP01 Rainfall manipulation plot study at Konza Prairie

Rainfall Manipulation Plots facility (RaMPs) is a unique experimental infrastructure that allows us to manipulate precipitation events and temperature, and assess population community, and ecosystem responses in native grassland. This facility allows us to manipulate the amount and timing of individual precipitation events in replicated field plots at the Konza Prairie Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site. We used data from a unique 15-year long rainfall manipulation experiment at the Konza Prairie Biological Station in northeastern Kansas, USA, to determine how altered precipitation patterns (fewer, larger events) impacted plant species composition and structure in an annually burned, ungrazed, native tallgrass prairie. We tested two hypotheses. First, based on the HRF, we predicted that directional change in grass and forb cover and richness and community composition would eventually occur after a lag period under the altered precipitation treatment. Second, we predicted that change in cover and composition under altered precipitation would be driven by the response of forbs more so than grasses because the dominant grasses are reported to be buffered against precipitation variability1,44 and changes in the cover and richness of forbs contribute disproportionately to community responses to other drivers in this grassland.

CBM01 Plains bison movement patterns in an experimental heterogeneous landscape at Konza Prairie

This GPS-collar data set was used to evaluate the factors that influence where bison choose to graze and how grazing and space use patterns affect ecosystem function and structure. Our objectives were to quantify space use and movement patterns of adult female Plains bison in the context of selection for specific prescribed burn frequencies and topographical features in the bison-grazed watersheds at Konza Prairie. We hypothesized bison would track post-prescribed burn forage productivity and we predicted watersheds burned for the first time in several years would be used to a greater extent than watersheds burned more frequently.

openCC0May 2025View details →

ASM01 Soil water content measured by neutron probe at Konza Prairie

Data set contains measurements of soil moisture (%volume) at various depths (25-200 cm) in deep (lowland) soils collected on LTER grazed and ungrazed watersheds burned at 1-, 4-, and 20-year intervals. Soil moisture measured by the neutron probe method.

CBS01 Capture records of (mainly) Grasshopper Sparrows on Konza Prairie

This dataset includes captures of mainly Grasshopper Sparrows (GRSP) prior to 2017, and after that, additionally many Dickcissels, Eastern Meadowlarks, Brown-headed Cowbirds and other songbirds. Each row pertains to an individual captured on a certain day. Individuals can repeat. Most captures include data on age, sex, head-bill, tarsus, wind chord, molt score, fat score, and mass. In many cases, a single feather was collected from each bird for isotopic analyses. Some individuals were measured for body composition (fat mass, lean mass, and body water) using a mobile Quantitative Magnetic Resonance (QMR) machine. Most individuals were bled in the field within 5 min of capture. The blood was chilled, centrifuged the same day, and plasma stored frozen for analyses of metabolite concentrations. Red blood cells were stored in lysis buffer for genotyping. All birds were banded with a USFWS band and many of the adults were individually marked using a unique combination of 3 plastic colored leg bands. Birds captured as independent young or nestlings banded prior to fledge were only marked with the USFWS bands. All birds were released at the location of capture. Missing values in character fields denoted by NA, and in numeric fields -999.

CBS02 Nests of Grasshopper Sparrows on Konza Prairie

This data set contains data describing Grasshopper Sparrow nests prior to 2017, and after that, additionally many Dickcissels, Eastern Meadowlarks, and other songbirds.. These nests were primarily found by rope dragging but also on surveys (see RI Survey Data Set), flushing birds during other activities, and via behavioral observations. We described nest contents and monitored nest fate via visits every 2-3 day and by placing an iButton placed in the center of the nest flush with the bottom of the nest cup and comparing temperature traces to a second iButton placed outside of the nest to determine the timing of nest failure and other metrics of incubation/brooding behavior. We compiled counts of partial egg loss, partial brood loss, and estimated causes of nest failure, comparing the timing of these events with KNZ-collected meteorological data to determine the temporal association between rainstorms and nest abandonment. Missing values in character fields denoted by NA, and in numeric fields -999.

openCC0Apr 2023View details →

CBS03 Grasshopper sparrow surveys: densities, reproductive index, and locations of marked individuals on Konza Prairie

Data on the location, identity, and reproductive index (Vickery et al. 1992) of Grasshopper Sparrows prior to 2017, and after that, additionally many Dickcissels, Eastern Meadowlarks, Brown-headed Cowbirds and other songbirds within 10-ha plots on multiple watersheds units on Konza and on two adjoining units on the Rannells Preserve. Each plot was surveyed every ~7-10 days. These surveys documented individual sparrow, Dickcissel, and Eastern Meadowlark locations, and are used to calculate dispersal distances and territory densities and movements. Missing values in character fields denoted by NA, and in numeric fields, either -999 or -9.

CBS04 Sweep sample data: prey estimates for Grasshopper Sparrows on Konza Prairie

This data set includes data on the contents of sweep samples. We collected sweeps in select years during May, June, and/or July in 3 locations on each of the focal watersheds. Sweeps were 80m long and centered at veg points. Data consist of information about the sampling events, and sample wet mass, edible mass (combined mass of selected orders listed below). Additionally, the dataset includes the number of individuals in each of a series of size categories, total N, and mass (in grams) of the following groups: Tettigoniidae, Acrididae, other Orthoptera, Gryllidae, Odonata, Ephemeroptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Arachnida, Hemiptera, Neuroptera, Diptera, Phasmatidae, Mantidae, and “other”.

openCC0Apr 2023View details →

CBS05 Estimates of vegetation structure and composition collected on Konza Prairie watersheds and on the nearby Rannell’s Preserve

Data set includes estimates of vegetation structure and composition collected during ~monthly sampling events on Konza Prairie watersheds and on the nearby Rannell’s Preserve. Vegetation data were collected from three (prior to 2017) or 10 randomly-selected locations on each watershed; two from outside the 10-ha plot (see project abstract) and one inside the plot. We sampled vegetation on each watershed once a month, during May, June, and July. Additional vegetation data were collected from bird nest sites within ~3 days of nests failing. We used 5 sets of Daubenmire frame measures to determine percent cover of major plant functional groups (at the center of the plot and 5 m from center at the 4 cardinal directions). We estimated visual obstruction by placing a Robel Pole in the middle, and 5 m from the middle of the plot in each of the 4 cardinal directions. For each pole placement, we stood 4 m away with eye 1 m above the ground in each of 4 directions, and counting the highest 5-cm segment not completely obscured by vegetation. At nests, we also estimated the slope and aspect in the center of each plot.

openCC0Jan 2025View details →

PBG02 Aboveground primary productivity within permanent and rotating grazing exclosures in the Patch-Burn Grazing Experiment at Konza Prairie

‘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. The burning treatments are rotated annually so that each pasture is burned every third year. Each patch-burn grazing unit is paired with an annually-burned pasture for comparison with traditional grazing systems (C01A and C1SB). All grazing units are stocked with cow/calf pairs from approximately 1 May until 1 Oct at a stocking density equal to 3.2 ha per cow/calf. To examine the impact of patch burning and grazing in all 8 units, we monitor changes in plant species composition, residual biomass, grassland bird populations, insect populations, small mammal populations, soil nutrients, and stream water quality1 (1C3SA/C3SB/C3SC unit only). The KSU Department of Animal Science monitors cattle performance, including weight gain and body condition to assess the economic feasibility of using patch-burn management on a widespread basis. This data set includes measurement of aboveground net primary productivity based upon end-of-season standing crop biomass (grams per square meter) of live graminoids, forbs, woody plants, and previous year's dead vegetation within permanent (“ungrazed”) and rotating (“grazed) sections of grazing exclosures to determine long term effects of bison grazing on aboveground primary production. The permanent section of the exclosure is fixed, while the movable section is rotated every 6 years among the four possible compass coordinates relative to the fixed se

openCC0Jun 2025View details →

PBG03 Disk pasture meter measurements to estimate plant standing biomass in the Patch-Burn Grazing experiment at Konza Prairie

"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. The burning treatments are rotated annually so that each pasture is burned every third year. Each patch-burn grazing unit is paired with an annually-burned pasture for comparison with traditional grazing systems (C01A and C1SB). All grazing units are stocked with cow/calf pairs from approximately 1 May until 1 Oct at a stocking density equal to 3.2 ha per cow/calf. To examine the impact of patch burning and grazing in all 8 units, we monitor changes in plant species composition, residual biomass, grassland bird populations, insect populations, small mammal populations, soil nutrients, and stream water quality1 (1C3SA/C3SB/C3SC unit only). The KSU Department of Animal Science monitors cattle performance, including weight gain and body condition to assess the economic feasibility of using patch-burn management on a widespread basis. This dataset includes both the annual calibration data for the disk pasture meter measurements (PBG031) and the actual disk pasture meter measurements in the PBG experiment (PBG032). Measurements were taken at a total of 64 transects (8 watersheds x 4 sites per watershed x 2 pasture meter transects per site). Each cattle-grazed watershed (designated as of May 2011 C3A, C3B, C3C, and C1A) and the four Shane cattle-grazed watersheds (C1B, C3SA, C3SB, and C3SC) includes 4 plant composition sampling transects (A-D). Pasture meter measurements were taken alo

openCC0Jun 2025View details →

PBG04 Reproductive effort of Big Bluestem, Indiangrass and Little Bluestem in the Patch-Burn Grazing Experiment at Konza Prairie

'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. The burning treatments are rotated annually so that each pasture is burned every third year. Each patch-burn grazing unit is paired with an annually-burned pasture for comparison with traditional grazing systems (C01A and C1SB). All grazing units are stocked with cow/calf pairs from approximately 1 May until 1 Oct at a stocking density equal to 3.2 ha per cow/calf. To examine the impact of patch burning and grazing in all 8 units, we monitor changes in plant species composition, residual biomass, grassland bird populations, insect populations, small mammal populations, soil nutrients, and stream water quality1 (1C3SA/C3SB/C3SC unit only). The KSU Department of Animal Science monitors cattle performance, including weight gain and body condition to assess the economic feasibility of using patch-burn management on a widespread basis. PBG041 includes data on flowering stem height (m) of three dominant prairie grasses: Andropogon gerardii (ANGE), Sorghastrum nutans (SONU), and Schizachyrium scoparium (ANSC). PBG042 includes flowering stem density (no. per sq. m) and mass (grams per sq. m) for the same grass species.

PBG05 Response of bird abundance to the Patch-Burn Grazing experiment at Konza Prairie

‘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. The burning treatments are rotated annually so that each pasture is burned every third year. Each patch-burn grazing unit is paired with an annually-burned pasture for comparison with traditional grazing systems (C01A and C1SB). All grazing units are stocked with cow/calf pairs from approximately 1 May until 1 Oct at a stocking density equal to 3.2 ha per cow/calf. To examine the impact of patch burning and grazing in all 8 units, we monitor changes in plant species composition, residual biomass, grassland bird populations, insect populations, small mammal populations, soil nutrients, and stream water quality1 (1C3SA/C3SB/C3SC unit only). The KSU Department of Animal Science monitors cattle performance, including weight gain and body condition to assess the economic feasibility of using patch-burn management on a widespread basis. This data set focuses on variation in avian abundance, diversity, and nesting activity between patch-burned and uniformly-burned pastures at Konza Prairie Biological Station. Three watershed units (C3A, C3B, C3C) constitute 'patches' that are alternately burned in a 3-year rotation within a single, fenced pasture (i.e., patch-burn grazing). Two additional watersheds serve as controls: a grazed, annually/uniformly-burned watershed (C1A) and an ungrazed, annually/uniformly-burned watershed (1D). Eight, 300-m line transects were established in each watersh