KU News Release

KU a candidate site for scientists to study the effects of global change

LAWRENCE — Ecological sites at the University of Kansas and Kansas State University could help scientists better understand the effects of global change on Earth’s ecosystems.

K-State’s Konza Prairie Biological Station, a native grassland ecosystem, has been selected as a candidate core site for the proposed National Ecological Observatory Network, or NEON. KU’s Field Station and Ecological Reserves would extend the research to an important grassland-woodland transition zone. Both candidate sites are in the central U.S. Prairie Peninsula region, one of NEON’s 20 ecological domains.

NEON is designed to help researchers understand and forecast the impacts of contemporary global changes, particularly in climate change, land-use and invasive species, on the ecology of ecosystems as diverse as grasslands, deserts and forests. Plans call for 20 core sites with instruments to measure various aspects of the ecology, biological diversity and climate for at least 30 years. In addition to the 20 core sites, NEON plans also include sites for mobile sensors distributed across the continent, combined with airborne ecological sensing systems.

The NEON planning effort for Konza has been led by K-State’s John Blair, distinguished professor of biology, and KU’s Leonard Krishtalka, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and director of the Biodiversity Institute, and it has involved numerous scientists across both campuses and collaborators at other institutions. Krishtalka also helped plan NEON as a member of its senior management team and the NEON Inc. board of directors.

NEON is being planned with support from the National Science Foundation, and it is the first initiative in the biological sciences being considered for funding through the foundation’s Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction portfolio, a fund that has built telescope arrays, neutrino detectors and ocean research vessels. In May, the National Science Foundation approved two cooperative agreements with the national NEON office totaling $24 million to complete the design and development of the project as it prepares for its final review.

The KU Field Station and Ecological Reserves are managed by the Kansas Biological Survey. Their ecological diversity of mixed prairies and woodlands, combined with their proximity to human activity north and east of Lawrence, make them an ideal location to study environmental change in the Prairie Peninsula region, said Kansas Biological Survey Director Ed Martinko.

“The KU Ecological Reserves include native and restored tallgrass prairie habitat, presettlement and managed woodlands as well as wetlands and other aquatic habitats under the influence of contemporary land-use practices,” Martinko said.

The state-of-the art monitoring equipment and new measurements that would come as part of NEON would greatly increase the research capabilities of the site. In addition, Martinko noted that the ecological reserves already maintain a large number of long-term databases, including a 30-year database of ecological measurements through the National Science Foundation's Long-Term Ecological Research Program.

By serving as a relocatable sensor site for the Prairie Peninsula domain, the ecological reserves would be a benchmark for evaluating the impacts of environmental change in the region, and it would serve as an important node in the continental-scale observatory. Moreover, the results would be relevant to similar to woodlands bordering grasslands worldwide, Martinko said.

Plus, being a part of the network would give KU students and researchers — immediately those in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, the Kansas Biological Survey and the Biodiversity Institute — opportunities to collaborate with other scientists from around the country, Krishtalka said.

“Such collaboration also has the potential to generate substantial new research funding for KU and cooperating institutions across the natural and social sciences,” Krishtalka said.

KU scientists and students would work with the network’s scientists and others to collect data and run experiments.

“KU students will also benefit greatly from the educational and training opportunities provided by the NEON program,” Krishtalka said, “as will the public from opportunities in informal science education. NEON facilities will be open to scientists and students from around the country, which will provide unique opportunities for advancing, diversifying and integrating research and education at KU, K-State and other institutions.”

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The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.