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We are launching a new distributed experiment! DRAGNet: Disturbance and Resources Across Global Grasslands. nutnet.org/dragnet @e_borer @e_seabloom @AshleyAsmus @ll_sullivan @LG_Shoemaker @drkimkomatsu @AMacD_UGuelph 
DRAGNet will assess the generality and site-specificity of factors influencing disturbance recovery and community assembly in herbaceous-dominated ecosystems. nutnet.org/dragnet
DRAGNet's first goal is to quantify community assembly, vegetation recovery rates, and trajectories of change after disturbance across a wide variety of herbaceous-dominated sites under ambient and elevated nutrient supply. nutnet.org/dragnet
DRAGNet's second goal is to determine the relative importance of local and regional processes for community assembly by pairing theoretical models with core and additional “add-on” seed bank/seed rain data: Nutnet.org/dragnetseeds
DRAGNet's third goal is to quantify community resistance to, and resilience after, short-term nutrient addition. nutnet.org/dragnet
DRAGNet's fourth and final goal is to gain insights into the reproducibility of ecological experiments by leveraging plot-level data from sites already participating in NutNet and replicating the same treatments in different starting years. nutnet.org/dragnet
At each site, DRAGNet participants will establish 3-5 blocks consisting of five, 5 x 5 m plots. Plots will receive either nutrient addition, a physical disturbance, nutrient addition plus disturbance, short-term nutrient addition, or no treatments. nutnet.org/dragnetprotocol
Core response variables will be plant species composition, aboveground standing crop, light intercepted by the plant canopy, and soil chemistry. (identical to the NutNet experiment). nutnet.org/dragnetprotocol
The study also includes sampling for an optional (but highly recommended) seed-bank and seed-rain study designed by @ll_sullivan and @LG_Shoemaker. nutnet.org/dragnetseeds
We expect to run this experiment for ten years; however, sites can participate for shorter lengths of time. nutnet.org/dragnetprotoco…
DRAGNet provides an experimental platform with capacity to answer research questions not yet envisioned, either via “add-on” studies that require new measurements, or with novel analyses of core data. nutnet.org/dragnetprotocol
Participants are welcome to join DRAGNet at any time, but we have an initial set of papers planned for all participants that submit observational (Year 0) data by April 2022. nutnet.org/dragnet-timeli…
We structured our opt-out paper plan with early-career scientists in mind, including new faculty on a five- or six-year tenure clock, and new Masters’ and Ph.D. students on a two- to five-year plan who will enter their program in 2019 or 2020. nutnet.org/dragnet-timeli…
To find out more, visit nutnet.org/dragnet, and express your interest on our online form: forms.gle/eDAz51oKauWzZr… Join us!
