Check out the feature on @kbslter.bsky.social! At MSU, some discoveries take decades — even centuries — to unfold. The university’s roster of long-term experiments includes our MCSE exploring how farming methods affect the environment and the food supply. msutoday.msu.edu/news/2025/11...

For over three decades, researchers at Michigan’s Kellogg Research Station have measured yield, profitability, soil aggregation, carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions and soil moisture in both tilled and no-tilled fields. www.no-tillfarmer.com/blogs/1-cove...

Check out this awesome blog for the @uslter.bsky.social, written by our very own Rachel Drobnak @dirtylittleworms.bsky.social. Rachel shares stories about the research and outreach surrounding prairie strips done at @kelloggbiostn.bsky.social! lternet.edu/stories/the-...

In Michigan, the final generation of Monarch butterflies are beginning their migration south to spend the winter in California, Florida or Mexico. Many are stopping by the @kbslter.bsky.social for resting and feeding along their journey! [Photo credit: Jamie Smith]

From drones helping farmers increase sustainability and profitability, to plant defenses under high nutrients, to the insect apocalypse - check out the latest research from the @kbslter.bsky.social in our press highlights! lter.kbs.msu.edu/who-we-are/i...

The publications collected in this month's LTER Network News really demonstrated the wide range of impactful research the LTER does. Here's the list: mailchi.mp/lternet/lter...

More bad news for butterflies. Our new paper led by Wendy Leuenberger shows common species are declining even more rapidly than rare ones. @ZipkinLab Three decades of declines restructure butterfly communities in the Midwestern United States | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2501340122

Today in @nytimes.com Science Section - @kbslter.bsky.social researcher, Bruno Basso, is featured as one of the leaders of a growing movement seeking to harness technology to help farmers, increase agricultural yields, and heal the environment all at the same time. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/c...

Millions of currently farmed acres hold opportunities for biodiversity conservation that are hidden in plain sight!

Great story! Learning to identify butterflies is in reach. Counts by thousands of people make up the best long term data 🦋 And there are practical means to forestall rapid butterfly decline. Thank you @margaretrenkl

@raviranjan.bsky.social & I are teaching a free online workshop with on experimental design for environmental scientists on the 23rd. We'll focus on using simulations to evaluate how well different experimental designs help achieve your goals. Please sign up & share! forms.gle/MZTxeQs4UpMr...

New research from Michigan State University, led by agricultural systems scientist Bruno Basso, addresses a major problem in agricultural carbon markets: how to set an accurate starting point, or “baseline,” for measuring climate benefits. msutoday.msu.edu/news/2025/07...

New study out of the @kbslter.bsky.social, led by Mia Howard, finds that plants growing in nutrient-rich soil may be more likely to defend themselves against insects and cites the importance of long-term research in the study of evolution! news.umich.edu/study-golden...

Out in the @kelloggbiostn.bsky.social LTAR today for their 3rd annual field day - hearing from farmers, scientists, crop advisors, NRCS, and more - as they share what they’ve learned so far from the aspirational treatments of this experiment and partnership!

Christine Sprunger @sprunger.bsky.social is one of 39 visionaries named to the 2025 Top Agri-food Pioneers, or TAP, list by the World Food Prize Foundation. Congrats Christine! www.kbs.msu.edu/2025/07/chri...

Several @kbslter.bsky.social graduate students presented at #ESA2025! Check out these updates on their research! www.kbs.msu.edu/2025/09/esa-...

Calling all KBS LTER photographers! Have some photos from your best day and worst day in the field? Submit them to the LTER Network's yearly photo contest! lternet.edu/stories/lter...

Family Aphelenchidae [af-i-lenk-i-dae]. This family likes to eat fungi, which nematologists call “fungivores.” Aphelenchidae are common in soils all over the world! #ecology #science #worms #nematodes #invertebrates #soil #soilecology

Want to keep up with the latest news from the @kbslter.bsky.social? Check out our blog! lter.kbs.msu.edu/blog/

From @kbslter.bsky.social researchers, Grant Falvo and Phil Robertson, have a paper out in Nature Communications Earth and Environment exploring how nature-based climate solutions can help mitigate the radiative forcing that follows deforestation across Midwest. www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Family Monhysteridae [mon-hiss-tare-i-dae]. Monhysteridae are quirky bacteria-eating nematodes, because they have unique body features and are adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions: anaerobic (no oxygen), dry, and even polluted environments. #worms #nematodes #soilscience #ecology

Family Hoplolaimidae [hop-low-lime-i-dae]. Hoplolaimidae are considered plant parasites because they require a host plant to live and reproduce. They can parasitize a wide range of host plants, including pine trees, grasses, and agricultural crops. #wormwednesday #ecology #invertebrates #nematodes

New review highlights scientific basis of regenerative agriculture. Rather than prescribing specific methods, it emphasizes observable outcomes – improved soil function, biological activity, and resilience – allowing flexibility across farming contexts. www.morningagclips.com/regenerative...

@kbslter.bsky.social uses soil warming experiments from the LTER and beyond to show global patterns of warming on plant communities. Some things are common: biomass increases, N decreases, but mostly, it's complicated! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Another @kbslter.bsky.social showed that a plant species more often took a defensive morph after THREE DECADES of nitrogen addition. That's cool evidence that nutrient addition is driving evolution within a single long-term experiment! nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Today we wrapped up the 10th summer of vegetation surveys in our KBS prairie restoration (reconstruction) experiment, testing how the geographic origin and species diversity of seeds used to initiate restoration affects long-term ecological dynamics @kelloggbiostn.bsky.social @kbslter.bsky.social

It was an honor to get to show off all of the hard work done by Mike and Lona Bronkema of Shady Side Farm at today’s MiSTRIPS field day. In addition to two prairie strips, Mike has a diversified cropping system with “beyond organic” practices.

We braved the insane heat wave to join the Kent County Conservation district for their prairie-themed field day. We watched a seed drill demo, saw a restored prairie in its second year, and shared details of the @kbslter.bsky.social MiSTRIPS program!

Hope we got to chat with you at #SABER2025, and if not, Data Nuggets will be at SABER Midwest @nabtbio.bsky.social as well!!

Budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration could lead to the closure of 26 long-term ecological research, or LTER, facilities across the United States, including the @kbslter.bsky.social. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

What do the long-term trends in firefly data from the @kbslter.bsky.social show? Firefly populations are highly cyclical with huge booms and busts over time. The last big boom of fireflies was observed in 2017, with a declining trend since then. www.mlive.com/news/2025/07...

Join us at "Prairie strips that pay" our upcoming #MiSTRIPS event! We'll hear from an innovative farmer, Mike Bronkema, about his over 10 years of experience with integrating prairie into his farming practices. Plus, free lunch and some demonstrations! lter.kbs.msu.edu/2025/07/prai...

Listening First: How KBS is Expanding the Reach of Conservation Research lternet.edu/stories/list...

Marika Jaeger will join us at the end of this week as this year's joint KBS LTER + LTAR Artist in Residence! Marika is a painter and scientist whose work highlights themes related to endangered species, climate change, and social-ecological systems.

We’re so excited to be in Chicago this week to present Data Nuggets to a group of preservice, middle, and high school teachers! Thanks to Mike @mikegrillo.bsky.social and Lara at @loyolachicago.bsky.social for being such amazing hosts!

Day 1 of our Walder Foundation sponsored Data Nuggets @datanuggets.bsky.social workshop was a big success! Scientists from Loyola, the Field Museum and Chicago State built new Data Nuggets on prairie restoration, Anolis lizards, plant microbiomes, and endangered mice..and we caught a Cubs game!

We are excited to announce our second Artist in Residence, Dr. Blaire Morseau, visiting @kelloggbiostn.bsky.social in June. Blaire is a beadwork artist & Assistant Professor in Dept. of Religious Studies & affiliate faculty in American Indian & Religious Studies at @michiganstateu.bsky.social.

“I took two different summer classes at the bio station in two different years,” she recalls. “I wish I had done it sooner! I think that was the most impactful for me.” @kelloggbiostn.bsky.social msutoday.msu.edu/news/2025/a-...

We were lucky to be joined by leaders across the grain chain at the Food Grade Grains Field Day here at @kelloggbiostn.bsky.social We learned what goes into all the grain-based products we enjoy - a crusty croissant, beans & rice, a piece of bread - and all the people who collaborate to make them!

Our #NSF grant, supporting a fruitful collaboration with the @cissyballen.bsky.social Lab, was terminated, along with over 1,600 others. We describe the impact of this loss in a press release here. datanuggets.org/2025/06/nsf-...

Can confirm, KBS is amazing and so much cool work is being done there

Honored to become a @aaas.org fellow with @lisaschultemoore.bsky.social and Amy Toth. Prairie strip scientists well represented today! @kbslter.bsky.social

Check out the list of planned events around Agriculture and Sustainability hosted by MSU Extension this summer! www.canr.msu.edu/news/upcomin...

One of the cooler things we have going on at @kelloggbiostn.bsky.social and the @kbslter.bsky.social! Very excited about the awesome artists we get to host and learn from this year 😃 msutoday.msu.edu/news/2025/fi...

The prairie strips in the @kbslter.bsky.social begin their 6th year!

We have enjoyed having graduate student, Samson Stynen, working with us this past year. Read more about his experience in this blog post! www.kbs.msu.edu/2025/05/data...

Though our recent #NSF grant was terminated, the @datanuggets.bsky.social program still continues through support from the @kbslter.bsky.social and other sources! We're searching for future funding opportunities and will continue to help share authentic datasets and science stories with students!

Wild lupine (Lupinus perennis) is in bloom in our prairie restoration experiment @kelloggbiostn.bsky.social

Welcome to our first @kbslter.bsky.social Artist in Residence for summer 2025 - Mikayla Thompson! Mikayla is with us at @kelloggbiostn.bsky.social this week. Mikayla explores grief, love, and joy through her poetry depicting relationships between herself, her loved ones, and the natural world.

🌳Nature-based climate solutions such as conservation agriculture and forestry can partially offset the global warming caused by deforestation, while natural forest regeneration is capable of a complete offset @kbslter.bsky.social Read more here 👉: www.nature.com/articles/s43...