Over 99% of the original tall grass prairie in the Midwest has been converted to annual agriculture. Those remaining prairie remnants are, like other natural systems, exposed to increasing levels of disturbance through human activities. The Nutrient Network is a worldwide network of grasslands that studies changes in species diversity and productivity following experimental manipulations in nutrient supply and herbivory.
As part of this global research effort my lab maintains the Iowan tallgrass prairie Nutrient Network site: Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt (cbgb.us). Our other tallgrass prairie site, Iowa Lakeside Lab (lakeside.us), has been retired due to woody encroachment. Data from these sites have contributed to over 50 peer-reviewed research papers. Local research questions include:
- Does variation in plant-soil interactions contribute to plant species turn-over following nitrogen enrichment?
- Does topography contribute to plant community resilience to disturbance, such as drought or nutrient addition?
- Does nutrient (NPK) addition change the distribution of flowering across the growing seasons in the North American Prairie?
- How does intra-specific phenology change following nutrient enrichment?
Selected publications (Please contact me if you would like a reprint)
Biederman L, Mortensen B, Fay P, Hagenah N, Knops J, La Pierre K, Laungani R, Lind E, McCulley R, Power S, Seabloom E, Tognetti P. 2017. Nutrient addition shifts plant community composition towards earlier flowering species in some prairie ecoregions in the U.S. Central Plains. PLoS ONE
Co-author on 26+ additional peer-reviewed publications associated with the Nutrient Network, please see my CV (link on my main page) for additional information.
Public outreach
Datasets
Raw data sets available through the Nutrient Network (nutnet.org) for cbgb.us (2009-2022) and lakeside.us (2015-2019). These data have been used in 64+ publications.
Biederman LA. 2016. Phenological niche breadth analysis for some North American prairie ecotypes.