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ARS Home » Natural Resources and Sustainable Agricultural Systems » Research » Research Project #438332

Research Project: Kellogg Biological Station Long-term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR)

Location: Natural Resources and Sustainable Agricultural Systems

Project Number: 0500-00105-001-001-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: May 1, 2020
End Date: Apr 30, 2024

Objective:
Expand participation in the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) Network by the Kellogg Biological Station (KBS), and specifically participation as the KBS Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Site (KBS-LTAR). KBS participation in the LTAR network will contribute towards supporting the sustainable intensification of U.S. agriculture to meet anticipated increasing demands for food, feed, fiber and bioenergy. The KBS LTAR site will address and contribute to the following LTAR network objectives related to sustainable intensification: 1) What factors drive agricultural productivity and its environmental impacts? 2) What are the tradeoffs between productivity, quality, societal preferences, and ecosystem services? 3) What are the barriers to sustainable intensification? 4) How do we better target our use of resources? 5) What technologies and management strategies are needed for agriculture to be resilient to extreme events? 6) What scientific synthesis products are needed for decision making?

Approach:
The primary focus of the national LTAR network is to develop and assess sustainable agricultural production systems that integrate environmental and socioeconomic needs from local, regional, to national scales. KBS is one node of a network of 18 LTAR sites across the United States. The KBS LTAR site is managed by Michigan State University. MSU will implement enhanced LTAR network activities, specifically monitoring and observatory measurements, contributions to the Common Experiment, data management, cross-site analyses, syntheses and modeling, and participate in LTAR working groups and other network initiatives.