SGS-LTER Effects of grazing on ecosystem structure and function (GZTX): Net Primary Production on the Central Plains Experimental Range, Nunn, Colorado, USA 1992-2011, ARS Study Number 32

This data package was produced by researchers
working on the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term
Ecological Research (SGS-LTER) Project,
administered at Colorado State University.
Long-term datasets and background information
(proposals, reports, photographs, etc.) on the
SGS-LTER project are contained in a comprehensive
project collection within the Digital Collections
of Colorado
(http://digitool.library.colostate.edu/R/?func=collections&collection_id=3429).
The data table and associated metadata document,
which is generated in Ecological Metadata
Language, may be available through other
repositories serving the ecological research
community and represent components of the larger
SGS-LTER project collection. When the CPER was established in 1939,
researchers constructed a .5-1 ha grazing
exclosure in each of the pastures. These areas
have remained protected from grazing for the past
70 years. The remaining areas have been grazed for
the past 20+ years. This collection of pastures
and exclosures provided an extraordinary
opportunity to reinitiate grazing and protection,
and evaluate the balance between degradation and
aggradation. We proposed to rearrange fences and
expose areas to grazing that have been protected
for 50 years, and protect areas from grazing that
had been grazed for 50 years. The combinations of
grazing conditions were: 1. Long-term protection
2. Long-term grazing (moderate) 3. 50 years of
protection followed by grazing 4. 50 years of
grazing followed by protection Net primary
production, nitrogen dynamics, cattle utilization,
and community dynamics of vegetation were
measured. Additional information and referenced materials can be found: http://hdl.handle.net/10217/85596.