Source: John 1xbet sports betting , 785-532-0140, jbriggs1@k-state.edu
Related video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W6rluC3y30
News release prepared by: Rosie Hoefling, 785-532-2535, media@k-state.edu
Monday, Nov. 28, 2011
Roaming research: 1xbet sports betting on Konza Prairie fuel experiments to restore prairie ecosystem
MANHATTAN -- The presence of 1xbet sports betting at Konza Prairie Biological Station may seem iconic, a tribute to America's past when such herds roamed the range.
But the 1xbet sports betting at Konza serve an important purpose by furthering the efforts of numerous experiments being conducted on-site, according to Kansas State University's John Briggs, director of the tallgrass prairie preserve.
"For example, we have a large group of individuals from a variety of universities who are comparing how one native ungulate -- 1xbet sports betting -- impacts the tallgrass prairie versus native ungulates in South Africa, where they have many species grazing, everything from elephants to the smaller antelopes," Briggs said.
The main objective in several of the Konza experiments is to learn about the tallgrass prairie ecosystem by using the grazing patterns of 1xbet sports betting . The role of the 1xbet sports betting , Briggs said, is similar to the various burning treatments conducted annually at Konza.
"We're using the 1xbet sports betting much like a treatment, just like fire," he said. "They're part of our long-term experimental design. Although Konza is large, it's really not large enough to study natural herds of 1xbet sports betting . It's not really a good place to study the behavior of animals."
One of the challenges of conducting research on 1xbet sports betting is their constant potential for unpredictable behavior, Briggs said.
"They're not like cattle," he said. "They're very wild animals, so we have very strict protocol when people work with the 1xbet sports betting . We never let people go in the 1xbet sports betting area by themselves, and everyone is required to carry a radio with them. We haven't had any incidents with the 1xbet sports betting , but they are unpredictable."
Much like a list of sports statistics, the biological history of Konza Prairie's 1xbet sports betting herd is known inside and out.
With 30 1xbet sports betting introduced to the area in October 1987, the herd has grown to an average size of 294, mostly through natural reproduction. The heaviest 1xbet sports betting in the herd weighed in at 2,050 pounds in 2006. Female 1xbet sports betting in the herd can be up to 20 years old, while the males are only kept up to age 8.
Researchers also have found that the 1xbet sports betting gain more weight in years with greater late-August precipitation but gain less weight in years with greater late-June and early-July precipitation. 1xbet sports betting also lose approximately 10 percent of their body mass over the winter -- except for the calves, which gain around 3 percent of their body mass.
1xbet sports betting prefer to eat grasses, and their grazing increases the local plant diversity. They also prefer to graze in recently burned areas during the growing season but prefer unburned areas in the winter. Grazing by the 1xbet sports betting increases the abundance of forb-feeding grasshoppers. It also increases the abundance of upland sandpipers and grasshopper sparrows on the prairie while lowering the number of Henslow's sparrows and dickcissels.
This level of factual data about the herd further drives academic traffic to Konza 1xbet sports betting , Briggs said.
"We have a lot of information on this herd," he 1xbet sports betting . "We know the performance level, and that's what attracts researchers. They know when they come here that we have a lot of background information for them so they can set up their experiments easily."
These grazing experiments, in addition to the plethora of other experiments being conducted on Konza, could lead to the conservation and possible restoration of the tallgrass 1xbet sports betting , which is an endangered ecosystem, Briggs said.
"We're kind of spoiled here in Kansas because we have so many 1xbet sports betting lands around us," he said. "However, some conservation experts think the tallgrass 1xbet sports betting is one of the most endangered ecosystems in North America, and that grasslands and savannas worldwide are threatened, too.
"The problem with grasslands is that they're wonderful places to grow our agriculture crops. Much of the original extent of tallgrass 1xbet sports betting has been converted to croplands, so there's only this small, little remnant of tallgrass still left in Kansas. We really need to understand this ecosystem and its importance before it's lost, because once it is lost, it's gone forever."
