PBG04 Reproductive effort of Big Bluestem, Indiangrass and Little Bluestem in the Patch-Burn Grazing Experiment at Konza Prairie

'PBG' datasets are associated with a long-term, large-scale study that is addressing the effects of fire-grazing interactions in the context of a Patch-Burn Grazing management system designed to promote grassland heterogeneity. Effects of patch-burn grazing management on plant and animal diversity and the nature and variety of wildlife habitat are being assessed in two replicate management units, each consisting of three pastures (watersheds) designated C03A/C03B/C03C and C3SA/C3SB/C3SC. In each patch-burn grazing unit, one watershed is burned and two that are left unburned in a given year. The burning treatments are rotated annually so that each pasture is burned every third year. Each patch-burn grazing unit is paired with an annually-burned pasture for comparison with traditional grazing systems (C01A and C1SB). All grazing units are stocked with cow/calf pairs from approximately 1 May until 1 Oct at a stocking density equal to 3.2 ha per cow/calf. To examine the impact of patch burning and grazing in all 8 units, we monitor changes in plant species composition, residual biomass, grassland bird populations, insect populations, small mammal populations, soil nutrients, and stream water quality1 (1C3SA/C3SB/C3SC unit only). The KSU Department of Animal Science monitors cattle performance, including weight gain and body condition to assess the economic feasibility of using patch-burn management on a widespread basis. PBG041 includes data on flowering stem height (m) of three dominant prairie grasses: Andropogon gerardii (ANGE), Sorghastrum nutans (SONU), and Schizachyrium scoparium (ANSC). PBG042 includes flowering stem density (no. per sq. m) and mass (grams per sq. m) for the same grass species.PBG数据集关联于一项长期大规模研究，该研究旨在探究以提升草地异质性为目标的斑块火烧放牧（Patch-Burn Grazing）管理体系下火-放牧交互作用的效应。该研究在两个重复管理单元中评估斑块火烧放牧管理对动植物多样性以及野生动物栖息地的属性与多样性的影响，每个管理单元包含3个牧场（集水区），分别编号为C03A/C03B/C03C与C3SA/C3SB/C3SC。在每个斑块火烧放牧单元中，每年会对1个集水区实施火烧处理，剩余2个集水区不进行火烧；火烧处理每年轮换，确保每个牧场每3年接受一次火烧。每个斑块火烧放牧单元均配有一个年度火烧牧场，用于与传统放牧体系开展对照研究（对应编号为C01A与C1SB）。所有放牧单元的载畜密度均为每头母牛-犊牛对对应3.2公顷土地，放牧时间大致为每年5月1日至10月1日。为探究斑块火烧与放牧在全部8个单元中的影响，本研究监测以下指标的变化：植物物种组成、残留生物量、草地鸟类种群、昆虫种群、小型哺乳动物种群、土壤养分，以及河流水质¹（仅针对C3SA/C3SB/C3SC单元）。KSU动物科学系会监测牛只的生长性能，包括增重与体况，以评估斑块火烧放牧管理大规模推广的经济可行性。PBG041数据集包含3种优势草原禾草的开花茎高度（单位：米）数据，分别为大须芒草（Andropogon gerardii，ANGE）、垂穗草（Sorghastrum nutans，SONU）和细须芒草（Schizachyrium scoparium，ANSC）。PBG042数据集则包含上述3种禾草的开花茎密度（单位：株/平方米）与生物量（单位：克/平方米）数据。