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Fire Self-Limitation (FiSL) Experiment: Quantifying Wildfire Carbon Combustion Losses in boreal Deciduous and Mixed Forests in Interior Alaska and the Boreal Cordillera VI: Mineral Soil Sample and pH Data 2022

This dataset contains field- and lab-measured characteristics for post-fire mineral soil samples collected in the field for plots in 8 fire scars in Interior Alaska and the Yukon. Data was collected in the summer of 2022. Fire scars sampled included Shovel Creek (2019), Aggie Creek (2015), Hess Creek (2019), Baker (2015), Munson Creek (2021), Isom Creek (2020), 2019MA014 (2019), and 2019BC005 (2019). Lab analyses were conducted in fall of 2022 at NAU.

Fire Self-Limitation (FiSL) Experiment: Quantifying Wildfire Carbon Combustion Losses in boreal Deciduous and Mixed Forests in Interior Alaska and the Boreal Cordillera VII: Coarse and Fine Woody Debris Inventory 2022

This dataset contains characteristics of coarse woody debris and snags collected in the field for plots in 8 fire scars in Interior Alaska and the Yukon. Data was collected in the summer of 2022. Fire scars sampled included Shovel Creek (2019), Aggie Creek (2015), Hess Creek (2019), Baker (2015), Munson Creek (2021), Isom Creek (2020), 2019MA014 (2019), and 2019BC005 (2019).

Fire Self-Limitation (FiSL) Experiment: Quantifying Wildfire Carbon Combustion Losses in boreal Deciduous and Mixed Forests in Interior Alaska and the Boreal Cordillera VIII: Seedling Inventory 2022

This dataset contains characteristics of post-fire seedlings and resprouts collected in the field for plots in 8 fire scars in Interior Alaska and the Yukon. Data was collected in the summer of 2022. Fire scars sampled included Shovel Creek (2019), Aggie Creek (2015), Hess Creek (2019), Baker (2015), Munson Creek (2021), Isom Creek (2020), 2019MA014 (2019), and 2019BC005 (2019).

Fire Self-Limitation (FiSL) Experiment: Quantifying Wildfire Carbon Combustion Losses in boreal Deciduous and Mixed Forests in Interior Alaska and the Boreal Cordillera IX: metrics derived from All Raw Data Collected Plus Data from Previous Studies on the 2004 Alaska Wildfires Included in Analysis 2022

This data set includes metrics derived from field and lab data collected for deciduous and mixed deciduous-confier plots collected in the summer of 2022 (Shovel Creek (2019), Aggie Creek (2015), Hess Creek (2019), Baker (2015), Munson Creek (2021), Isom Creek (2020), 2019MA014 (2019), and 2019BC005 (2019)), as well as additional data for conifer plots from previous studies of the Taylor Highway Complex (2004), Dall Creek/Yukon Crossing (2004), and Boundary (2004) fires. Those additional data were acquired from: https://www.lter.uaf.edu/d1/d1-detail/id/773 and https://daac.ornl.gov/ABOVE/guides/ABoVE_Plot_Data_Burned_Sites.html. From this complete data set of 333 plots, 311 plots were used in analyses in Black at al. (NCC) paper: "Increased deciduous tree dominance reduces wildfire carbon losses in boreal forests". Plots excluded (from 2022 FiSL data) were poplar-dominated, mixed poplar/conifer dominated, missing soil C data, or conifer-dominated (adventituous root heights were not recorded consistently at sites in 2022 making it impossible to estimate pre-fire conifer stand organic soil C pools for 2022-collected conifer plots). Only 2005-collected conifer plots were used in NCC paper analyses. For all plots, in addition to field/lab derived site characteristics and combustion metrics, post hoc remotely sensed metrics were derived: pre-fire NDVI/EVI-2 trends, 1980-2010 climate normals, and DOB weather metrics.

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.

openCC0May 2023View details →

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.

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.

KKE01 The Konza-Kruger Experiment: A cross-continental fire and grazing experiment at Konza Prairie

For more than a decade, we have compared responses of mesic (subhumid) savanna grasslands (>500 mm MAP in the tropics and >600 mm MAP outside the tropics) in North America and South Africa to alterations in both fire and grazing regimes. The long-term, comparative experiment that forms the centerpiece of this cross-continental research program is located in tallgrass prairie at the Konza Prairie Biological Station (Kansas, USA) and in knob-thorn marula savanna at the Kruger National Park (Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, South Africa). We refer to this study as the Konza-Kruger (K-K) Experiment. At both sites, we have been manipulating grazing by removing all large herbivores (>5 kg) from research plots with permanent exclosures (each with a paired plot that grazers can freely access). These exclosures were established in replicated fire frequency experiments ongoing at each site (treatments range from >25-50 yrs of annual burning, burning every 3-4 yrs, or complete fire exclusion).

ESM01 Fire and grazing modulate the structure and resistance of plant-floral visitor networks in a tallgrass prairie

Data from the study: Welti, E.A.R. and Joern, A. 2017. Fire and Grazing modulate the structure and resistance of plant-floral visitor networks in a tallgrass prairie. Oecologia 186: 447-458. EMS011 dataset contains counts of blooming inflorescences of plant species on 12 Konza watersheds in June-July of 2014; ESM012 dataset contains associations between flower-visiting insects and insect-pollinated flowering plants on 12 Konza watersheds collected in May-July of 2014; ESM013 dataset describes insects belonging to the orders of Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera collected in pantrap transects on 12 Konza watersheds collected in June - July of 2014.

SLP01 Leaf physiology in response to fire and climate within Cornus drummondii shrubs at Konza prairie

Woody encroachment threatens the loss of remaining grasslands. Clonal shrubs are of particular concern because of their ability to resprout after disturbance, spread vegetatively, and share resources among interconnected stems. These traits contribute to the encroachment of deep-rooted clonal shrubs in tallgrass prairie. In this study, we investigated how leaf physiological traits differ among interconnected stems within a dominant encroaching shrub in tallgrass prairie, Cornus drummondii. Accounting for intra-clonal differences among stems in response to disturbance may be useful to more accurately parameterize models that predict the effects of shrub encroachment on ecosystem processes. Gas exchange rates, water potential, carbon isotopes, and leaf traits were collected from the periphery to the center of discrete C. drummondii shrubs. Measurements took place in the summers of 2015 and 2018

SDR01 Intra-clonal stem demography of Cornus drummondii in response to fire and browsing at Konza Prairie

Intra-clonal stem density, natality, mortality, flowering and relative growth rate within discrete Cornus drummondii shrubs in response to fire frequency (4- vs 20-yr burn intervals) and simulated browsing. Tagged stems within individual shrubs were tracked and measured at the beginning and end of each growing season in 2018 and 2019 to assess the interactions of fire and browsing on stem demography.

CGR05 Effects of fire frequency on composition of grasshopper assemblages (1983)

Sweep samples were taken for grasshoppers (Acrididae) at two sites for each of 14 Konza Prairie LTER watersheds. Samples are taken in late July to early August. At each site on each occasion, 10 sets of 20 sweeps (200 sweeps total) are taken. Stored data include for each site on each occasion: total number of each species (all instars combined) collected and total number for each instar for each species (200 sweeps combined).

EJR01 Foraging decisions underlying restricted space-use: effects of fire and forage maturation on large herbivore nutrient uptake on Konza Prairie

Recent models suggest that herbivores optimize nutrient intake by selecting patches of low to intermediate vegetation biomass. We assessed the application of this hypothesis to plains bison (Bison bison) in an experimental grassland managed with fire by estimating daily rates of nutrient intake in relation to grass biomass and by measuring patch selection in experimental watersheds in which grass biomass was manipulated by prescribed burning. Digestible crude protein content of grass declined linearly with increasing biomass, and the mean digestible protein content relative to grass biomass was greater in burned watersheds than watersheds not burned that spring (intercept; F1,251 = 50.57, P < 0.0001). Linking these values to published functional response parameters, ad libitum protein intake, and protein expenditure parameters, Fryxell's (Am. Nat., 1991, 138, 478) model predicted that the daily rate of protein intake should be highest when bison feed in grasslands with 400 - 600 kg/ha. In burned grassland sites, where bison spend most of their time, availability of grass biomass ranged between 40 and 3650 kg/ha, bison selected foraging areas of roughly 690 kg/ha, close to the value for protein intake maximization predicted by the model. The seasonal net protein intake predicted for large grazers in this study suggest feeding in burned grassland can be more beneficial for nutrient uptake relative to unburned grassland as long as grass regrowth is possible. Foraging site selection for grass patches of low to intermediate biomass help explain patterns of uniform space use reported previously for large grazers in fire-prone systems. This data set was used to test the forage maturation hypothesis in the Konza Prairie bison enclosure from 2012-2013. Our objectives were to quantify foraging site selection of Plains bison in order to determine if bison in a fire-prone grassland selected sites of low-to-intermediate forage biomass as posited by Fryxell’s (1991) forage mat

NBC01 Konza Prairie Belowground Plot Experiment: Soil chemistry responses to experimental manipulations of fire, nutrients and mowing

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. The general goals of this experiment are: 1) to document both short- and long-term responses of plants and soils to fire, aboveground biomass removal (a surrogate for grazing in these small plots), and nutrient amendments (additions of N and/or P); and 2) to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying tallgrass prairie responses to fire, aboveground biomass removal and nutrient enrichment. Effects of burning, mowing, and N + P additions on soil chemistry are measured on the 64 belowground plots at irregular intervals. Variables measured include P, NO3, NH4, Mn, Cu, K, Zn, Ca, Fe, Mg, Na, ph, Organic matter and Organic-N.

NPL01 Litterfall inputs to soil surface in watersheds with different fire treatments

Litter falling to the soil surface of tallgrass prairie was measured using 5 cm x 100 cm litterfall troughs. Mass, nitrogen, and phosphorus content were measured monthly or seasonally. Variables of interest include burning frequency and soil type.

NSC01 Chemistry and physical characteristics of soils from Konza LTER watersheds with different fire and grazing treatments

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. C content of samples from 1982, 1987 and 1997 was derived from Walkley-Black measurements of % soil organic matter (OM) content, using a conversion factor of 1.72 (%C = %OM / 1.72). Soil C content of samples from 1992, 2002 and later were determined by dry combustion and gas chromatography (i.e., Carlo-Erba C/N analyzer). N content of samples prior to 1992 was based on Kjeldahl digeston. N content of samples from 1992 on were determined by dry combustion and gas chromatography (i.e., Carlo-Erba C/N analyzer). Additional details regarding sampling protocols and analytical methods are available in the Konza LTER Methods Manual.

CSM05 Seasonal summary of numbers of small mammals on the six LTER traplines in prairie habitats on which fire regime has been reversed at Konza Prairie

Data set contains seasonal summaries (spring and autumn) of the number of individuals of each species of small mammal captured (relative abundance) on each grassland trapline. Each record contains year, season, trapline and number of individuals captured of each species. These live trap records are based on daily captures during a single 4-day trapping period in spring (mid-March to early April) and autumn (late October to early December) for each of six permanent traplines established on two fire treatments (three traplines per treatment). These two fire treatments include one treatment that was changed from a 20-year burn to an annual burn and one that was changed from an annual burn to 20 years between fires. Bison do not graze these two habitat types.

PAB05 Aboveground net primary productivity of tallgrass prairie based on accumulated plant biomass on the LTER fire reversal experiment watersheds

Data set contains estimates of end-of-season standing crop biomass (grams per square meter) of live graminoids, forbs, woody plants, and previous year's dead vegetation for 2 soil types (shallow and deep) on the four Fire Reversal Experiment watersheds. This experiment is based on reversing fire treatments on four watersheds, two of which had a history of annual spring burning and two of which had a history of long-term fire suppression. The dataset includes both pre- and post-fire treatments.