Sycamore Creek NEON - United States of America

Sycamore Creek (SYCA) is an aquatic NEON field site in a shallow desert stream situated roughly 35 km (21.8 mi.) northeast of Phoenix, Arizona in the Tonto National Forest. The site is hosted and managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The catchment area of the drainage basin is 505 km² (124,788 acres). The creek’s headwaters begin on the eastern slopes of the Mazatzal Mountains and head south toward a confluence with the Verde River. In the lower reaches, the banks of the creek are surrounded by old-growth saguaro cacti/palo verde forests in a classic Sonoran Desert Scrub ecosystem. Sycamore Creek is a riverine wetland in an otherwise extremely dry environment. This unique feature creates an array of biotic activity ranging from algal mats to endemic fish species and plant species only seen in riparian or wetland habitats such as cottonwoods and cattails. This site is encompassed within NEON's Desert Southwest Domain (D14). D14 has two terrestrial field sites and one aquatic site. SYCA is not colocated with a terrestrial site.