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The controlled fire pictured here is burning away biomass at the National Science Foundation’s Konza Prairie Long Term Ecological Research site in the Flint Hills region of northeastern Kansas. Home to the largest, most productive area of unplowed tallgrass prairie in North America, the site provides a benchmark for exploring the drivers and impacts of environmental change taking place throughout the grasslands of the eastern Central Plains.
Fire helps maintain prairie ecosystems by clearing away the dead leaf litter that can build up and crowd out sunlight for new plant shoots. Konza Prairie scientists pioneered the use of long-term, large-scale fire and grazing experiments to understand the ecological effects of fire and grazing in grasslands. Today, fire is used as a tool to manage and conserve tallgrass prairies.Image credit: NSF Konza Prairie LTER Site
