The Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program studies the ecology of intensive field crop ecosystems as part of a national network of LTER sites established by the National Science Foundation. The Network supports research that provides a better understanding of ecological phenomena in both natural and managed ecosystems. At KBS we seek to better understand the ecological underpinnings of major field crop ecosystems - annual crops such as corn, soybean, and wheat, perennial crops such as alfalfa, and biofuel crops such as switchgrass and poplars. We also study the natural, unmanaged ecosystems that occur in agricultural landscapes.
Our experimental systems range from field plots to landscapes, within which we study interactions among plants, microbes, insects, and humans, and in which we measure biogeochemical processes, plant and insect population dynamics, microbial community change, and the ecological services provided to society by agricultural ecosystems. more....
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