Collaborative Research

We in the Grassland Protection Research Unit are cooperating with scientists from several locations in a novel field experiment to determine how two global changes, atmospheric carbon dioxide enrichment and reduced precipitation during summer, interact with regionally-important differences in soil type to affect soil and plant processes on tallgrass prairie. Collaborators include Robert Jackson (Duke University), Richard Gill (Washington State University), William Parton (Colorado State University), March Litvak (University of Texas), and Richard Haney (ARS; Temple, Texas).

We also are cooperating with scientists involved in the AgriFlux network, a multi-location effort to measure carbon fluxes from rangelands in the western U.S. We will use AgriFlux data to determine the sensitivity of rangeland carbon balance to seasonal and inter-annual variability in rainfall and temperature. The flux data will be analyzed in cooperation with active participants in the AgriFlux network, including William Dugas and Patricia Mielnick (Texas Agricultural Experiment Station; Temple, Texas) and ARS scientists Jon Hanson (Mandan, North Dakota), Phil Sims (Woodward, Oklahoma), Bill Emmerich (Tuscon, Arizona), Deb Peters (Las Cruces, New Mexico), Jack Morgan (Ft. Collins, Colorado), Nicanor Saliendra (Dubois, Idaho), and Tony Svejcar (Burns, Oregon) Analyses of inter-annual variability in fluxes at different sites will be coordinated with Jurgen Garbrecht (ARS; El Reno, Oklahoma).