Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER)/KBS004: Kellogg Biological Station Main Cropping System Experiment

LTER - Long-Term Ecological Research Program/Kellogg Biological
Station (KBS)

LTER/KBS004 [Summary adapted from the LTER Core Data Set Catalog]:

Data for the main cropping system experiment at KBS. Cropping
systems were established in spring 1988: 1) standard chemical input
corn/soybean rotation conventionally tilled; 2) standard chemical input
corn/soybean rotation no-tilled; 3) low chemical input corn/ soybean/wheat
rotation ridge tilled; 4) zero chemical input corn/soybean/wheat rotation
ridge-tilled; 5) Populus clones on short-rotation (4 year) harvest cycle; 6)
continuous alfalfa; 7) early successional community on historically tilled
soil; 8) early successional community on never-tilled soil. Systems 1-7 are
installed in 0.9 ha plots in each of six replicate 5-ha blocks; system 8 is
replicated in four 0.06-ha plots 200 m off-site on the same soil series. For
each cropping system (and for a number of microplot treatments nested within
the main treatment plots) the following baseline variates are being measured
(some are described in greater detail in other data set descriptions): 1)
plant characteristics, including species distributions and abundances, net
aboveground productivity by functional group (crop vs. weeds, selected weed
species), economic yields, tissue C and N contents, seed bank composition, root
biomass at physiological maturity; 2) soil chemical and physical
characteristics, including soil moisture, pH, inorganic N and P pools, total C,
N, and P pools, bulk density; 3) soil biological characteristics, including
microbial biomass C and N, N mineralization rates (buried bags),
fungal/bacterial ratios, invertebrate populations, fungistasis; and 4) insect
and pathogen dynamics, including distributions and abundances of major insect
pests and predators and of Fusarium pathogens.

The 1,000 ha W.K. Kellogg Biological Station has been administered by
Michigan State University as a primary research facility since its
1929 deeding to the university by Kellogg. In its early years the
Station was devoted to wildlife, forestry, and soil conservation
research; during the past 20 years a research emphasis on ecology,
production agronomy, and forest genetics has led to well-established
and internationally recognized programs in each of these fields. The
mission of the Station, supported by 10 year-round resident faculty
from several university departments, in addition to campus-based
faculty and visiting scientists, puts a primary emphasis on
maintaining an environment for interdisciplinary research in ecology,
agriculture, and natural resources.

KBS LTER research topics include ecological interactions underlying
the productivity and environmental impact of production-level cropping
systems; patterns, causes, and consequences of microbial, plant, and
insect diversity in agricultural landscapes; gene transfer, community
dynamics and biogeochemical fluxes.

Information about LTER is also available at
'http://lternet.edu/'