Shortgrass Steppe-Long Term Ecological Research (SGS-LTER)
Permanent URI for this community
These digital collections contain materials related to the SGS-LTER research site, established in 1980 by researchers at Colorado State University as part of a network of long-term research sites within the US LTER Network, supported by the National Science Foundation. Scientists within the Natural Resource Ecology Lab, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, and Biology Department at CSU, California State Fullerton, USDA Agricultural Research Service, University of Northern Colorado, and the University of Wyoming, among others, have contributed to our understanding of the structure and functions of the shortgrass steppe and other diverse ecosystems across the network while maintaining a common mission and sharing expertise, data and infrastructure.
Browse
Browsing Shortgrass Steppe-Long Term Ecological Research (SGS-LTER) by Subject "blue grama"
Now showing 1 - 12 of 12
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Open Access Backlit blue grama(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1996-07-15) Burke, Indy, photographerBlue grama seed heads backlit and glowing, over cactus on SGS.Item Open Access Blue grama(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2009-09-03) von Fischer, Joe, photographerClose up of stand of blue grama with seedheads, on SGS.Item Open Access Blue grama and cactus(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1996-07-15) Burke, Indy, photographerBlue grama silouetted against sky, from ground level, with cactus in foreground on SGS.Item Open Access Blue grama grass(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2002-05-09) Unidentified photographerBlue grama seed heads, Bouteloua gracilis, BOGR.Item Open Access Blue grama in snow(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2001-01-22) Lindquist, Mark, photographerBlue grama seed heads in snow, Bouteloua gracilis, BOGR, on SGS.Item Open Access Blue grama in snow(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2000-12-08) Lindquist, Mark, photographerBlue grama seed heads, Bouteloua gracilis, BOGR, in snow on SGS.Item Open Access Blue grama seed heads(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1996-07-15) Burke, Indy, photographerBlue grama seedheads silouetted against sky, cactus in foreground, on SGS.Item Open Access Blue grama seed heads over cactus(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1996-07-15) Burke, Indy, photographerClump of opuntia cactus with good growth of blue grama from around cactus.Item Open Access Cactus and blue grama(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1996-07-15) Burke, Indy, photographerClose up of Opuntia cactus with blue rrama seed heads, on SGS.Item Open Access Cactus and blue grama(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1996-07-15) Burke, Indy, photographerClose up of Opuntia cactus with blue grama seed heads, on SGS, with bare soil around base of cactus.Item Open Access SGS-LTER Bouteloua gracilis removal experiment vegetation data (ARS #155) on the Central Plains Experimental Range, Nunn, Colorado, USA(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1997-2008) Lauenroth, William K.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 Repository (http://hdl.handle.net/10217/100254). 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. Six sites approximately 6 km apart were selected at the Central Plains Experimental Range in 1997. Within each site, there was a pair of adjacent ungrazed and moderately summer grazed (40-60% removal of annual aboveground production by cattle) locations. Grazed locations had been grazed from 1939 to present and ungrazed locations had been protected from 1991 to present by the establishment of exclosures. Within grazed and ungrazed locations, all tillers and root crowns of B. gracilis were removed from two treatment plots (3 m x 3 m) with all other vegetation undisturbed. Two control plots were established adjacent to the treatment plots. Plant density was measured annually by species in a fixed 1m x 1m quadrat in the center of treatment and control plots. For clonal species, an individual plant was defined as a group of tillers connected by a crown (Coffin & Lauenroth 1988, Fair et al. 1999). Seedlings were counted as separate individuals. In the same quadrat, basal cover by species, bare soil, and litter were estimated annually using a point frame. A total of 40 points were read from four locations halfway between the center point and corners of the 1m x 1m quadrat. Density was measured from 1998 to 2005 and cover from 1997 to 2006. All measurements were taken in late June/early July.Item Open Access SGS-LTER disturbance intensity and above- and belowground herbivory effects on long-term recovery of shortgrass steppe on the Central Plains Experimental Range, Nunn, Colorado, USA 1977-1990(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1977-1990) Lauenroth, William K.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 Repository (http://hdl.handle.net/10217/100254). 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. The importance of disturbance intensity and herbivory by cattle and white grubs, or the larvae of June beetles to recovery of shortgrass steppe ecosystems in Colorado, USA were evaluated over a 14 year time period. Disturbance intensity was defined by survival of the dominant grass species (Bouteloua gracilis) after an outbreak of root feeding activity by white grubs. 16 patches of vegetation consisting of four pairs of adjacent ungrazed-grazed by cattle locations with 2 replicates that were recently affected by white grubs were selected in 1977. Disturbance intensity was determined in 1977 by the area in each patch that contained live tillers of B. gracilis. Permanent plots were located both within and outside of each patch. Plant basal cover and density by species were estimated at time of peak aboveground biomass in 6 different years on each plot. Successional dynamics on patches was similar to areas affected by other types of disturbances, however, rate of recovery was faster for patches affected by grubs. Grazing by cattle was infrequently important to plant recovery, a result similar to effects of grazing on other aspects of shortgrass steppe. Disturbance intensity was important to recovery of B. gracilis since tiller survival in 1977 was linearly related to cover in each year of sampling. For ungrazed patches, initial conditions were important to recovery of B. gracilis for as many as 14 years. For grazed patches, initial conditions decreased and grazing increased in importance through time. Changes in resource quality and more uniform distribution of roots due to grazing likely resulted in more complete mortality of plants by grubs under grazed compared to ungrazed conditions. Persistence of shortgrass steppe ecosystems in spite of disturbances with different intensities are determined at least in part by characteristics of disturbances interacting with the ability of plants to respond, and in part by the evolutionary history of the system. Although white grubs affect shortgrass communities infrequently, they have large and important effects on plant community structure through time, and represent an important class of disturbance defined by intensity.