Kansas Bio Survey & Center for Ecological Research

"The study revealed particularly dense fungal networks beneath the world’s grasslands, adding to the evidence that these ecosystems, which tend to receive less conservation protection than forests, serve as significant carbon sinks for the planet": NYT covers research on one of our favorite subjects. Liz Koziol, assistant research professor here, is a quoted source. No paywall on this story.

68 Quadrillion Underground Miles of Fungi With machine learning and a high-resolution imaging robot, scientists measured and mapped the extent of Earth’s carbon circulatory system.

Did you know—that we do this, too? A lot of research depends on soil testing: ag and crop science, horticulture, carbon sequestration, soil nutrients, soil contamination, soil integrity for construction, and more. And accurate soil testing depends on representative samples, properly prepared.

In a quiet set of labs on KU’s West Campus, Dr. Aoesta Rudick runs our Soil Analyses Service Center. We do state-of-the-art research-grade soil, water and plant analysis, and we expertly prepare samples for researchers, too. It’s all happening behind the scenes, providing a key step in research that contributes to our state and beyond. Website: https://sasc.ku.edu/

Our eighth annual Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute for secondary science teachers starts tomorrow. Ten Kansas teachers will take part this year, taking this opportunity to learn from more than a dozen Kansas Biological Survey researchers, along with others at KU and state agencies. They'll take fresh information and ideas back to their classrooms.

Kansas science teachers to take part in immersive program at KU Field Station Ten secondary school science teachers from Kansas will converge at the University of Kansas Field Station, just north of Lawrence. They’ll take part in the Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute, an annual immersive program that gives secondary educators the chance to work with KU scientists to exp...

Sharon has multiple studies going with different collaborators. A number of these studies come back to land use change and associated ecosystem shifts, particularly in the deep soil. Here are some of the questions she’s working on:
— the ways that pools of deep soil carbon are changing as a result of woody encroachment into grasslands;
— how soil structure dictates the way available moisture flows through the soil to recharge soil water and eventually the aquifer;
— the ways that human land use choices are changing the flow of water as soil structure changes, and how water and acids produced by roots and microbes result in the flow of these solutions into streams and groundwater.

I Am Striving: Sharon Billings Sharon Billings, University Distinguished Professor of Ecology & Ev...

Right here in Kansas, we’ve seen animal species whose previous ranges ended south of here (nine-banded armadillos, for example). It’s widely documented that many mobile species are shifting poleward or upward in elevation as the climate shifts.

In one of our spring ecology seminars, Dan Reuman, a senior scientist here and a KU professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, gave a research talk on how inter-annual climatic variability—fluctuations in temperature, precipitation and other weather conditions—may be a key factor affecting the geographic ranges of species.

For example, polar bears depend on spring sea ice to hunt seals. An area where spring temperature is −10 °C every year and one where temperatures alternate between years of −25 °C and years of 5 °C have the same mean temperature, but these areas may have very different implications for polar bear population persistence.

In this talk, Dan shows plenty of maps and examples in presenting a modeling approach that predicts how inter-annual climatic variability constrains species ranges. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNOOSPjc9wKOJpELzF-dVLmLjNBsIAUOH

It’s cool in eastern Kansas today, but hot weather is coming—the season for harmful algal blooms (HABS), a significant health hazard, in our surface waters. Our scientists are attempting to answer the question: Can we predict a bloom?

With that in mind, they study how HABs have changed over time. They’ve taken deep sediment cores from all 24 federal lakes in the state and analyzed those samples for indicators of HABs. This graph shows the results of core analysis from Milford (Geary and Clay counties), the state’s largest reservoir, built in 1964. The graph shows that in about 2000, blooms began to become larger and more frequent.

In addition to their sediment coring work, the HABs team is tracking water quality data in real time in two reservoirs, Clinton and Tuttle. When conditions are favorable for HABs, our team advises the municipalities to prepare to treat the water for a bloom, which saves money and time.

How do we conserve our rainwater? The green dots on this map of western Kansas show more than 27,000 playas—small, rainwater-fed basins—overlaid on the High Plains aquifer and the state groundwater management districts. More than 80 percent of these are in cropland. Playas have highly variable productivity depending on each year’s weather, and they’re hard to farm around.

Our study of playas aims to determine whether they are economic to farm and whether the water in them might filter down to the aquifer. Scientists in our Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program (KARS) are mapping playas and working to understand the hydroperiod—when the playas are full of water and how long—to assess the impact of the playas on aquifer recharge.

Have you noticed these small wetlands in cropland in your area?

We're proud of Annalise—this award provides support as she writes her dissertation, which examines the way land use change and climate change influence what water carries through soils; how those flows reshape deep soil structure; and ultimately how ecosystem productivity and carbon storage are affected.

Annalise's adviser is Sharon Billings, senior scientist here and University Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

KU doctoral student receives Cobell Fellowship Annalise Guthrie, a University of Kansas doctoral candidate in ecology & evolutionary biology, has been named a recipient of the Elouise Cobell Dissertation Writing-Year Fellowship. The award provides $30,000 in support over 12 months to American Indian and Alaska Native scholars who are completing....

It’s finals week: Did you know? In the past year, our researchers have directly mentored more than 100 students—chairing 32 master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation committees and guiding 77 undergrads and postbaccalaureate students who work in our labs.

Students are involved in nearly all of our grant-funded projects, and assisting them in finding their own paths forward is core to our mission. We do that by:
—providing opportunities for them to assist with faculty and staff research in our labs or at the KU Field Station;
—assisting them in obtaining funding for their own research, developing posters and presentations for conferences, and publishing in peer-reviewed journals;
—providing paid employment in our offices and at the KU Field Station.

Here are a few of them at work.