Long Term Research at Kellogg Biological Station
We study diversity of species and habitats in agricultural landscapes.
- We work in decades-long experiments where we vary the intensity of land use, from business as usual agriculture in corn-soy-wheat row crops to grassland conservation areas.
- In some treatments, we restore areas, called prairie strips, with diverse plantings of grasses and forbs and study their effects on the diversity of other species including pollinators, natural insect predators, and ants.
- In the broader landscape, we study how habitat area and connectivity affect biodiversity and the ecosystem services provided to croplands and beyond.
Long-Term Ecological Research site (LTER) at W.K. Kellogg Biological Station in Hickory Corners, Michigan. Credit: Ruben Ulbrich
Some recent results:
- Change over decades: at KBS-LTER, yield and financial benefits removing tillage from business as usual corn-soy agriculture can take years to realize; the yield gap between no till and till has continued to increase after three decades. The long-term study needed at KBS is consistent needs to understand long term effects of treatments on abundance of plants and animals across the LTER network.
- Prairie strips, or thin strips of native plantings traversing corn-soy crops increase the diversity of butterflies and beetles, and increase pollination and other ecosystem services in the strips and in neighboring crops.
- In bioenergy landscapes, native perennials, including diverse prairie and switchgrass planted as monoculture, support higher ant species richness and pest suppression than corn grown for ethanol.
- In bioenergy landscapes where a goal may be to optimize yield and biodiversity, switchgrass planted as monoculture is invaded by other plants, and ultimate supports nearly the pollinator diversity and bioenergy yield of restored prairie.
