GRL-FLUXNET: Measuring GHG, Water, and Microbial Fluxes in the Southern Great Plains

The GRLNET flux tower sites use eddy covariance methods to measure the exchanges of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and energy between the atmosphere and a diverse range of terrestrial ecosystems including native and improved tallgrass prairie pastures, burned and unburned pastures, grazed and non-grazed pastures, till and no-till winter wheat and canola, grazed and non-grazed winter wheat, grazed and non-grazed alfalfa. In addition, chamber-based measurements of soil emissions of three major greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, and N2O) and chamber-based measurements of net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) and ecosystem respiration (autotrophic and heterotrophic) will be carried at the eddy flux sites and several small plot scales with different levels of nitrogen (N), legume treatment, and tillage systems. Biometerological variables such as leaf area index, canopy height, and dry biomass will be collected periodically. Soil chemistry and nutrient status (total soil C and N, extractable soil C, NO2, NO3, NO4, and basic organic acids) and soil microbial community and their activities will be monitored throughout the year at the study sites.