In the midst of completing their LTER renewal proposal, the Central Plains Experimental Range LTER group reached an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service to expand the LTER site to include not only the Central Plains Experimental Range, where the project has been based, but also the Pawnee National Grasslands. Adding 78,100 ha (193,000 acres) of adjacent land will provide a better representation of the shortgrass steppe and increase the land area available for ecological studies. In a recent analysis (Ecological Modelling, Vol. 67 No. 1, 1993), lead investigators Ingrid Burke and Bill Lauenroth suggested that the site within its previous boundaries did not adequately represent areas with fine-textured soils. A name change to reflect the expansion--from Central Plains Experimental Range to Shortgrass Steppe (SGS)--has been implemented at the site level and is under way at the Network level.
The Pawnee National Grasslands includes: a wide variety of soils and soil textures; a broad range of mean annual precipitation; active, relatively large prairie dog towns; riparian communities; a large number of abandoned cultivated fields; two Research Natural Areas that will be protected from grazing; and a direct connection with the major group of land managers who may potentially utilize portions of the information the LTER project develops. The proposed addition increases the realm of inference of the site to 23% of the shortgrass steppe within the Central Great Plains region.
The new site definition will provide the scientists and students who work on the LTER project with some exciting possibilities for future research. A list of high priority research proposed for the next six years includes:
- The evaluation of keystone species, including prairie dogs and plains prickly pear cactus
- Population genetics of blue grama, the dominant plant of the shortgrass steppe
- Atmosphere-biosphere interactions
- Detrital food web dynamics
Kari Bisbee, Acting Project Manager, Shortgrass Steppe (formerly Central Plains)