The MAB Program United States of America
Biosphere Reserve Information - General Description
Konza Prairie
General Description
Konza Prairie is located in
the Flint Hills region of northeastern Kansas, approximately 10 km south of the
city of Manhattan. The Flint Hills are steep-sloped and overlain by shallow
limestone soils unsuitable for cultivation. This region contains the largest
remaining area of tallgrass prairie in North America since the majority of the
Konza Prairie and the surrounding landscape have not been plowed.
The vegetation of Konza Prairie is dominated by native tallgrass which can reach
over 2.5 meters in height in the most productive years. The prairie is dominated
by plants adapted to the continental climate, mainly perennial grasses such as
big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), little bluestem (Andropogon scoparius),
Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans), and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). The
grassland habitats include upland prairie on thin loess soils, hill prairie
along alternating limestone benches and slopes, and areas of lowland prairie on
deep alluvial-colluvial soils.
Ecological research is the central activity of the Konza Prairie which is also a
Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site of the National Science Foundation.
The site was established to provide a natural laboratory for the study of
ecological patterns and processes in native tallgrass prairie ecosystems. Key
natural processes that regulate and sustain the tallgrass prairie are periodic
fire, ungulate grazing, and a variable continental climate. Thus, these
processes are the focus of much of the long-term research. Other research by the
Kansas State University includes physiological ecology, population and community
ecology of plants, insects, birds and mammals, aquatic ecology, ecosystem and
landscape ecology, and grasslands restoration ecology.
The Konza Prairie Biological Station provides educational opportunities for
students from elementary school to post-graduate level.
Last updated: 06/27/2005