The KBS Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Project in Row-crop Agriculture was initiated at Michigan State University in 1987 to examine basic ecological relationships in field-crop ecosystems typical of the U.S. Midwest. Our goal was – and remains – to test the long-term hypothesis that agronomic management based on ecological knowledge can substitute for management based on chemical subsidies—without sacrificing the high crop yields that modern agriculture provides for society. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation with support from Michigan State University AgBioResearch. A renewal proposal is submitted to the National Science Foundation every six years.
Most of our specific hypotheses have been addressed in the context of the simple experimental design of our Main Cropping System Experiment: replicated systems along a management intensity gradient that includes four annual cropping systems (corn-soybean-wheat rotations ranging from conventional to biologically-based management), two perennial cropping systems (alfalfa and hybrid poplar trees), and a set of early to late-successional unmanaged communities.
Our initial focus was on the biophysical underpinnings of ecological processes in row-crop ecosystems. In 1998 we added watershed biogeochemistry, and in 2004 we added an economic valuation component. Since 2004 our work has been guided by a conceptual model that integrated our activities around the concept of ecosystem services delivered by agriculture. We continue to focus on ecosystem services and incorporate key research linkages between ecological and social systems in these landscapes. This integration of ecological and social systems is critical to address long-standing environmental and productivity challenges in row crop agriculture.
In 2008 we expanded our research with major funding from Department of Energy (DOE) to include potential cellulosic biofuel crops as part of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC). This expansion builds on our longstanding comparisons of annual and perennial cropping systems, and includes experimental cellulosic and grain-based biofuel cropping systems designed to examine the delivery of and trade-offs among agronomic, biogeochemical, and biodiversity services.
The KBS LTER supported the foundation of the KBS Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) site, which started at KBS in 2020. This program, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, supports a network of18 sites across the United States that focus on stakeholder-informed research to advance agricultural performance and sustainability in cropland and grazing systems. The KBS LTER’s long-term data on the agronomy and ecology of row crop systems, as well as existing relationships with stakeholder partners helped secure the funding of the KBS LTAR. Now, the programs work side by side to inspire science that addresses fundamental and applied questions that can facilitate on-the-ground adoption of conservation practices, as well as inform larger-scale policy needs. For instance, LTER datasets reveal that after ten years no-till systems consistently out-perform tilled systems, and the LTAR compliments this with shorter-term, adaptive research trials and on-farm collaborations to help farmers learn how to make no-till fit in their farming system. LTER scientists network with local farmers, agricultural professionals, and conservations at annual LTAR field days, and these opportunities stimulate new research experiments, as well as novel ideas for how to analyze and communicate existing long-term datasets. Together, LTER and LTAR catalyze foundational, long-term agricultural research aimed at addressing the needs of stakeholders across the agricultural supply chain in the Upper Midwest.