Mario E. Biondini Hultz Hall 169 Animal and Range Sciences North Dakota State University Fargo, ND 58105 701 231-8208 Mario.Biondini@ndsu.edu
Wei Lin 201D CIE Building Environmental and Conservation Services North Dakota State University Fargo, ND 58105 701 231-6288 Wei.Lin@ndsu.edu
Central Grasslands Research Extension Center Latitude 46.66N / Longitude 99.36W / 2,147 ha: 1,539 native grasslands and wetlands, with 608 cultivated annual and perennial forage.
The Central Grasslands Research Extension Center (CGREC) is one of eight centers distributed throughout North Dakota which are affiliated with North Dakota State University’s Agricultural Experiment Station. It is proposed as one of two Core Wildland Site alternatives for Domain 9, Northern Plains. Because of its research tradition and infrastructure already in place, the CGREC is a favorable location for a NEON Core Wildland Site. Historically focused on applied agricultural research, it has the advantage of strong established relationships with the area’s agricultural sector. The Center has also hosted basic research projects, making it a repository of ecological data and knowledge.
The site encompasses two of the main vegetation types of the domain: the wetland plant community of the Prairie Pothole Region, and the wheatgrass-bluestem-needlegrass upland communities of the northern mixed grass prairie. The Prairie Pothole Region is home to more than 50% of North American migratory waterfowl, many species dependent on the potholes for breeding and feeding. The unique hydrology and climate of this region have a profound influence on the water chemistry, hydroperiod, and ultimately, the biotic communities that inhabit prairie wetlands. The wheatgrass-bluestem-needlegrass upland communities occupy the central portion of the Northern Plains extending from Saskatchewan to the Platte River in Nebraska. It is a transitional type between the wetter bluestem prairie to the east and the much drier wheatgrass-needlegrass prairie to the west. The transitional nature of the upland vegetation, the closeness to two major temperature and precipitation regimes, and the presence of an important wetland complex make the area ideal for exploring the effects of temperature and precipitation changes as a result of climate change.
Six additional characteristics make this location highly suitable as a Core Wildland Site: 1. The proposed site is near the boundary between areas in which 30% or less of total production is accounted for by C4 plants (northern part), and areas where C4 plants account for 30-50% of total production (Lauenroth et al. 1999). 2. The site is near the boundary of a major temperature gradient. To the north, the mean annual temperature ranges from 0-4°C, while to the south, it ranges from 4-8°C (Lauenroth et al. 1999). 3. The site is near a major isopleth of relative variability in ANPP between favorable and unfavorable years. To the east, average variability is 30%; to the west, 30-50% (Sala et al. 1988). 4. The site is located within the area with the highest breeding bird species diversity within the domain: 59-70 per route (Hull-Sieg et al. 1999). It also includes the hot spot for exotic species within the domain: 11-35% per route (Hull-Sieg et al. 1999), as well as the highest number of threatened and endangered species for all taxa: 9-12 (Hull-Sieg et al. 1999). 5. 60% of the wetlands have sulfate concentrations ranging from 300-88,000 ppm (Swanson et al. 1988) which can change by as much as an order of magnitude within a year as a result of normal water fluctuations (LaBaugh et al.1987, Swanson et al.1988). This creates conditions for sulfate reduction and oxidation that can have important implications for C flows (Howes et al. 1984, Wieder & Lang 1988). 6. The Natural Resource Conservation Service and the Environmental Protection Agency have invested substantial resources to describe the ecology of the wetland plant communities in this region precisely because of their importance in areas ranging from water quality and species diversity to global climate change (Adamus 1996, DeKeyser et al. 2003).