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，我们已对比分析北美与南非两地中生（亚湿润）稀树草原草地（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）对火与放牧格局改变的响应。作为本项跨大陆研究项目核心组成部分的长期对比实验，分别设于美国堪萨斯州康扎草原生物站的高草草原，以及南非林波波省与普马兰加省克鲁格国家公园内的刺球马鲁拉稀树草原。我们将此项研究命名为康扎-克鲁格（Konza-Kruger, K-K）实验。在两个实验站点，我们通过永久围封样地开展放牧调控：每块围封处理样地均配有可让放牧动物自由进入的配对对照样地，通过移除样地内所有体重>5千克的大型植食动物实现处理设置。上述围封样地均设立于各站点正在开展的重复火频率实验框架中，实验处理组涵盖25年以上至50年的年度火烧、每3-4年火烧一次，以及完全禁火三种模式。