Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
produce both food and fuel (Robertson et al. 2008b, Tilman et al. 2009) makes the
need for long-term agricultural research guided by a systems perspective ever more
imperative. This has been, and remains, a primary motivation underlying research at
the Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research site (KBS LTER).
Here, we present the context and conceptual basis for the KBS LTER program,
including descriptions of the principal long-term experiments, their rationale, and
their regional setting. Data collected as part of core KBS LTER research activities
are maintained online, in a publicly available database. This includes most of the
data used in this and the following chapters. The KBS LTER Data Catalog (http://
lter.kbs.msu.edu/datatables) is also incorporated in the LTER Network Information
System (
https://portal.lternet.edu/nis/home.jsp
).
The KBS Long-Term Ecological Research Program
The KBS LTER program is part of a nationwide network of 26 LTER sites repre-
senting a diversity of biomes (Robertson et al. 2012). KBS is the only LTER site
focused on row-crop agriculture and is located in the USDA's North Central Region
in southwest Michigan (42
o
24'N, 85
o
23'W; 288-m elevation; Fig. 1.1). Since its
inception in 1987, LTER research at KBS has sought to better understand the ecol-
ogy of intensively managed field crops and the landscape in which they reside. The
emphasis of our research has been on corn, soybean, wheat, and alfalfa (
Medicago
sativa
L.) (Gage et al. 2015, Chapter 4 in this volume)—crops that dominate the
North Central Region and have a huge impact on human and environmental welfare.
And in anticipation of the importance of cellulosic bioenergy crops over the com-
ing decades, we have also studied hybrid poplar (
Populus
sp.) since 1987 and more
Figure 1.1
. Location of the Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) in relation to estimates
of U.S. net primary productivity. The area outlined in black is the USDA's North Central
Region and includes the U.S. corn belt (Gage et al. 2015, this volume). Base map is modified
from Nizeyimana et al. (2001).
