The National Ecological Observatory Network: An Update On Construction Progress And Introduction To The STReams Experimental Observatory Network (STREON)
Utz, Ryan 1
1 NEON, Inc.
The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a major research facility funded by the National Science Foundation to enable continental-scale ecological research. NEON will collect hundreds of standardized, quality-controlled data products in sites spanning North America, from the Arctic to Puerto Rico. All data generated by NEON will be entirely open-access. Sensor arrays associated with NEON atmospheric towers, soil pits, and aquatic sites will produce terabytes of integrated hydrologic data per year. Several sites in the NEON network have come online and begun generating data since the construction phase began, including one site in the Colorado plains. NEON also intends to serve as a platform for continental-scale ecological experimentation, and the first among such efforts to be implemented is STREON, the STReams Experimental Observatory Network. STREON will involve two experimental treatments in ten wadable NEON stream sites: 1) the probable limiting nutrient (nitrogen or phosphorus) will be enriched by five times ambient concentrations and 2) large-bodied consumers such as fish or crayfish will be excluded from patches of benthic habitat to determine how their presence structures ecological processes such as primary production and respiration. All 200+ data products collected in NEON aquatic sites will be collected in the control and nutrient-enriched reaches of STREON sites. Additionally, benthic metabolism, biological assemblages, and stable isotopes will be measured in sediment baskets incubated in closed, recirculating chambers. STREON equipment may be used by external researchers when not needed for routine operations.