NPP Grassland: Osage, U.S.A., 1970-1972


[PHOTOGRAPH]
Photograph: Insect sampling trap at the Osage site (click on the photo to view a series of images from this site).

Data Citation

Cite this data set as follows:

Risser, P. G. 1998. NPP Grassland: Osage, U.S.A., 1970-1972. Data set. Available on-line [http://www.daac.ornl.gov] from Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, U.S.A.

Description

Productivity of a tallgrass prairie grassland was monitored at the Osage study site from 1970 to 1972. Dynamics of above-ground plant biomass were monitored at roughly 2-week intervals during the growing season. Data on above-ground live biomass, standing dead matter and litter are available, for two replications of a grazed and an "ungrazed" (relatively undisturbed) treatment. Total below-ground biomass was also sampled. Above-ground net primary production (ANPP) was estimated conservatively by summing peak biomass of individual species, and below-ground net primary production (BNPP) was estimated as the sum of positive increments in root biomass plus increments in crown biomass (measured separately).

Data were collected as part of a coordinated study over 1-3 years at ten grassland sites of the central and western United States, under the U.S. Grassland Biome Project of the International Biological Program (IBP).

The Osage study site (36.95 N 96.55 W) is situated in the U.S. Central Lowlands, about 60 km north-west of the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, on the K. S. Adams Ranch, a rangeland of 14,000 ha. It is located at the southern end of the Flint Hills, the largest expanse of unbroken tallgrass prairie in the U.S.A. The "ungrazed" treatment area had not been grazed between 1950 and 1970, although it may have been mowed for hay as late as 1968. The grazed treatment was relatively lightly grazed, primarily in early spring and late fall (autumn).

Contact Information

Contact: Dr. W. K. Lauenroth
Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado 80523
U.S.A.

Telephone: +1 (970) 491-7581
Fax: +1 (970) 491-1965
E-mail: billl@cnr.colostate.edu

Alternative Contact: Dr. P. G. Risser
Office of the President
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon 97331-2128
U.S.A.

Telephone: +1 (541) 737-2565
Fax: +1 (541) 737-3033
E-mail: paul.risser@orst.edu

Click on the following linked phrase to view references and summaries.