University of Kansas Field Station

The KU Field Station is situated within the grassland/forest transition zone (ecotone) of North America, where the eastern deciduous forest and tallgrass prairie biomes meet. Its mission is to foster scholarly research, environmental education and science-based stewardship of natural resources. Faculty, students and visiting researchers use the field station’s diverse native and managed habitats, experimental systems, support facilities and long-term databases to undertake an a wide variety of scholarly activities.

The KU Field Station was established in 1947, originally known as the Kansas Ecological Reserves. This biological field station has been part of the University of Kansas since establishment, however, various academic departments and research units have overseen operations throughout it’s history. The KU Field Station has been managed by the Kansas Biological Survey & Center Ecological Research since the late 1990s.

Year Founded
1947
Year Joined OBFS
Size of Field Station (hectares)
1001-2500
FSML Web Address
https://biosurvey.ku.edu/fieldstation

Private nonprofit organization?
No
Universities affiliated / Parent Organization
University of Kansas
Federal, state, or local governmental partners?
NEON and Other: The Nature Conservancy
Member of the Virtual Field
Yes

Additional Information

Private nonprofit organization?
Names of Universities affilated
0
Federal, state, or local governmental partners?
NEON and Other
Name of partner
Tribal partners/users
Yes
MSI/HBCU users
Yes
Community College users
Yes
Member of the Virtual Field
Yes

Visiting a FS/ML

Open to the Public
Yes
Year round staff
3-5
Seasonal staff
0
Overnight housing facilities/# of beds
1-10
Distance to emergency services
21-40 minutes
Library
No
Hiking trails
Yes
Internship employment
No

Environmental Information

Biomes
Temperate Grassland, Temperate Woodland and Shrubland, and Temperate Forest
Minimum Elevation
101-300 meters
Maximum Elevation
301-750 meters
Köppen climate classification
D (continental)
Freshwater habitats
Yes
Urban or rural
Agricultural fields
Yes

Research

REU host station
No
Dry lab space
Yes
Wet Lab space
Yes
Research vessels available
No
GIS capacity on site
Yes
Long term data sets
Yes
On site herbarium or voucher species
Formal Data Management Plan
No
Mesocosms, plots, stream diversions, or other sets ups for outdoor manipulative experiments
Yes
Date Joined OBFS
May 17, 2024