Cropped Land Vs. Undisturbed Tallgrass Prairie—the Impact on Shallow Groundwater Chemistry

The Konza Prairie LTER site, in north-central Kansas, is a relatively undisturbed, tallgrass prairie on a highly dissected terrain underlain by Permian limestone and shale bedrock and capped variable thicknesses of original or reworked Pleistocene loess. Some of the stream-valley bottoms have been used historically for cultivation of wheat, milo, or soybean. A comparison of the shallow groundwater chemistry beneath undisturbed and cropped valley bottom reveals differences in solutes and CO₂ content that are related to disturbance. This site may be an excellent analog for changes that have occurred under cropped land throughout the Midwest USA.