Konza Prairie Biological Station NEON - United States of America

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https://deims.org/d3c55759-78e7-4936-8bc5-7ee4c0938058

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Basic Information
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Site Name
Konza Prairie Biological Station NEON
Short name
KONZ
Country
United States of America
Web Address
https://www.neonscience.org/field-sites/konz
Site Manager
Becky Eaves
Site Description
Konza Prairie Biological Station (KONZ) is a terrestrial NEON field site located in the Flint Hills region of Kansas just 10 km (6 mi.) south of Manhattan, KS. The 34.6 km2 (8550 acre) site at the Konza Prairie Biological Station is hosted by The Nature Conservancy and Kansas State University. The surrounding region consists of grasslands, forests, and agricultural land cover types and includes the largest remaining areas of unplowed tallgrass prairie in North America. KONZ is part of the NEON Prairie Peninsula Domain (D06), which stretches from Kansas through Nebraska and Iowa to southern Minnesota, and moves east to encompass Illinois and most of Indiana. The Domain hosts four other NEON field sites: two aquatic and two additional terrestrial, all of which are located in Kansas. KONZ is located just 5 km (~3 miles) east of the KONA terrestrial site. The two sites provide a contrast between more pristine prairie at KONZ and heavily impacted agricultural land at KONA within the same area. Land use and land use management are key grand challenge themes for this Domain.
Last modified
2025-09-17 15:09:46

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
2015
Observed properties
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
GERI✔This site is a verified "GERI" member.
NEON✔ (KONZ)This site is a verified "NEON" member.
Photos
KONZ
KONZ
Prescribed burn at KONZ
Prescribed burn at KONZ
Geographic
View in site map
Centroid/Representative Coordinates

Latitude: 39.10077 Longitude: -96.56309

Size
ca. 3487.00ha
Elevation (average)
414.00msl
Elevation (min)
333.00msl
Elevation (max)
443.00msl
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Site information [.json]

Centroid/representative coordinates [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]
Bounding Box [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]
GEO-BON Biome
Terrestrial
Biome
Deciduous Forest
Ecosystem Type
Forest
Deciduous Forest
Grasslands
Air Temperature: Average Annual
12.40°C
Precipitation Annual
870.00mm
Geology
Konza Prairie is part of the Chase group, a geologic group from the early Permian laid down in the Gearyan stage. It is composed of cherty limestone and green or red shale. Chert is another term for flint, meaning a sedimentary rock composed of quartz. It is this “flinty” limestone that gives the Flint Hills, home of the Konza Prairie, its name.
Vegetation
The Konza Prairie is characterized by native tallgrasses able to withstand the rocky soil and the ferocious winds that whip over the hills. There are over 600 plant species found on the prairie, dominated by big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans), and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). Woody buckbrush (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus) and smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) are common as well.
Soils
The dominant soil series is Benfield-Florence complex, a silty clay loam, with 5-30% slopes. The second most dominant is Clim-Sogn complex, a clayey soil weathered from limestone and shale, with 3-20% slopes. The soil at KONZ has a low water capacity but is well drained. Bedrock is 0.89 - 0.99 m (2.9 - 3.2 ft.) deep but can be much shallower.
Hydrology
The Konza Prairie is separated into 50 watersheds, each draining a tributary of King’s Creek which ultimately drains into the Kansas River.
Site Type
Platform
Design of Experimentation
partly experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
beyond catchment scale
Design of Observation
mainly observation
Scale of Observation
beyond catchment
Permanent Power Supply
Yes
Accessible All Year
Yes
Permanent Operation
Yes