Woody encroachment and its effects on terrestrial ecosystems have been well-studied. However, the effect on riparian and aquatic ecosystems, specifically denitrification, has been lacking. Riparian areas of headwater prairie streams were historically dominated by grasses, but have become increasingly covered by woody vegetation. To determine potential consequences of woody plant invasion on denitrification, three adjacent reaches were delineated from two branches of King’s Creek, which drains Konza Prairie Biological Station.

Understanding how biotic and abiotic factors combine to affect species interactions is an important challenge in ecology. Because the effects of biotic and abiotic factors on species interactions are often studied separately, it can be difficult to predict potential non-linear and indirect interactions among factors. We manipulated three key biotic and abiotic factors (temperature, food quality, predation) in field experiments in continental grassland using a plant – grasshopper – spider food chain.

Annual regeneration and sustainability of perennial grass populations rely heavily on the belowground population of meristems (the bud bank), yet the dynamics, morphology, and population sizes of grass bud banks have not been explored. Since the two major photosynthetic guilds of grasses vary in their aboveground phenology, their belowground bud bank phenology would likely vary as well.

Climate change has the potential to alter the genetic diversity of plant populations with consequences for ecosystem function. In this study we addressed whether a long-term climate change manipulation has altered the genetic diversity of a dominant C4 grass, Andropogon gerardii, which contributes disproportionately to ecosystem productivity in the tallgrass prairie, using the Rainfall Manipulation Plots (RaMPs).

In tallgrass prairie, annual tiller recruitment occurs primarily from belowground meristems (bud bank) rather than from seed. Therefore, in this system bud banks regulate plant population and community dynamics to a greater extent than seed banks. Current models predict greater variability in precipitation, with larger events and longer dry spells between events for northeastern Kansas. We hypothesize that bud banks mediate plant community response to changing precipitation patterns by differential release of meristems from dormancy and changing the production of new meristems.

Konza prairie contains over 550 vascular plant species, of which, only a few have been closely studied. Predicted impacts of climate change on the tallgrass prairie region increase the importance of understanding how native tallgrass prairie species are likely to respond to future changes in water availability and increased air temperatures. Understanding which traits are the best predictors of relative abundance along a continuum of water availability (well watered to water stressed) will aid in the prediction of plant community structure under altered temperature-precipitation regimes.

More than 70% of emerging diseases are vector-borne or zoonotic in origin. The One Health Initiative recognizes the link between ecosystems, humans, domestic animals and wildlife in an effort to integrate human and veterinary medicine with ecology. This abstract is a call for collaborators across the LTER network to assist in developing a One Health Initiative that aims to identify ecological drivers of cross-species disease transmission in a changing environment.

Increasing land fragmentation, mostly caused by urban sprawl and “leap-frog’ developments, is a major concern in many rapidly growing metropolitan cities of the US. Land fragmentation affects biodiversity and ecosystem processes, as portions of the landscape become isolated without connecting corridors and this, in turn, can change ecological structure and function. This cross-site comparative study, a joint-collaboration of several LTER sites (i.e.