Research on Konza Prairie Konza Prairie was established to provide a natural laboratory for the study of ecological processes in a native tallgrass prairie. Results from research on Konza Prairie will contribute to an understanding of how the native prairie functioned prior to settlement, and provide a more general understanding of natural environments. Experimental grazing and fire treatments are imposed at the watershed level. Grazing and fire treatments are combined to yield watersheds that have either fire or grazing, both, or neither, providing a complex array of conditions that are used in analyses of many natural phenomena. An array of organisms, from tiny microbes to large bison, are investigated in relation to the natural and experimental conditions on Konza Prairie.
Studies take place at the level of individuals, populations, communities, and entire ecosystems.
Because Konza Prairie is a protected area, it provides an opportunity for long-term research. This program acknowledges that many ecological processes occur on time scales of decades or centuries. LTER researchers collect and maintain over 70 long-term data sets containing detailed information on the weather, soils, vegetation, animal populations, and ecosystem processes. Konza Prairie has been the location of many research projects by many other agencies. Kings Creek, which originates on and flows through Konza Prairie, is part of the U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologic Benchmark Network and represents the only stream USGS monitors that is entirely in an unplowed tallgrass prairie watershed.