Grl-Fluxnet: A Network of Eddy Covariance Systems in the Southern Great Plains.

Information on exchange of energy, carbon dioxide (CO₂), and water vapor (H₂O) for major terrestrial ecosystems is vital to quantify carbon and water budgets to develop, evaluate, and enhance hydrologic and crop simulation models and to better understand the potential of terrestrial ecosystems to mitigate rising atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. The GRL-FLUXNET is a network of eddy flux measurement stations coupled with static chambers for measuring greenhouse gas emissions. This network is located within the 7,500 ac USDA-ARS Grazinglands Research Laboratory in El Reno, Oklahoma. This network currently consists of 10 eddy covariance systems to measure the exchanges of CO₂, H₂O, and energy fluxes between the atmosphere and a diverse range of terrestrial ecosystems including native and improved tallgrass prairie pastures, burned and unburned pastures, and grazed/non-grazed winter wheat and canola under till and no-till practices. In addition, chamber-based measurements of soil emissions of three major greenhouse gases (CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O), net ecosystem CO₂ exchange (NEE) and ecosystem respiration (autotrophic and heterotrophic) being carried at the eddy flux sites and several small plots with different levels of nitrogen (N), legume treatment, and tillage systems. Data on biometerological variables (leaf area index, canopy height, and dry biomass), soil chemistry (total soil C and N, extractable soil C, NO₂, NO₃, NO₄, and basic organic acids) and soil microbial community are collected periodically at the study sites.