KKE01 The Konza-Kruger Experiment: A cross-continental fire and grazing experiment at Konza Prairie

For more than a decade, we have compared responses of mesic (subhumid) savanna grasslands (>500 mm MAP in the tropics and >600 mm MAP outside the tropics) in North America and South Africa to alterations in both fire and grazing regimes. The long-term, comparative experiment that forms the centerpiece of this cross-continental research program is located in tallgrass prairie at the Konza Prairie Biological Station (Kansas, USA) and in knob-thorn marula savanna at the Kruger National Park (Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, South Africa). We refer to this study as the Konza-Kruger (K-K) Experiment. At both sites, we have been manipulating grazing by removing all large herbivores (>5 kg) from research plots with permanent exclosures (each with a paired plot that grazers can freely access). These exclosures were established in replicated fire frequency experiments ongoing at each site (treatments range from >25-50 yrs of annual burning, burning every 3-4 yrs, or complete fire exclusion).

十余年来，我们对比了北美与南非的湿润（亚湿润）稀树草原草地生态系统——即热带地区年平均降水量（Mean Annual Precipitation，MAP）＞500毫米、非热带地区年平均降水量＞600毫米的生境——对火与放牧制度改变的响应。本跨国研究项目的核心长期对比实验，分别设置于美国堪萨斯州康扎草原生物站（Konza Prairie Biological Station）的高草草原，以及南非林波波省与普马兰加省克鲁格国家公园（Kruger National Park）内的黑荆金合欢-马鲁拉稀树草原。我们将此项研究命名为康扎-克鲁格（K-K）实验。在两个研究站点中，我们通过永久禁牧围栏移除研究样地内所有体重＞5千克的大型草食动物以操控放牧处理，每个围栏均配有可让放牧动物自由进入的配对样地。上述永久禁牧围栏均设置于各站点正在开展的重复火频实验样地中，该实验包含三类处理：已持续25至50年的年度火烧、每3-4年火烧一次，以及完全禁火。