The Jones Center At Ichauway NEON - United States of America

Basic Information
Site Name
The Jones Center At Ichauway NEON
Short name
JERC
Country
United States of America
Web Address
https://www.neonscience.org/field-sites/jerc
Site Manager
Guy Fausnaught
Site Description
The Joseph Jones Ecological Research Center (JERC) is a terrestrial NEON field site located within the Lower Coastal Plains and Flatwoods areas in southern Baker County, Georgia. The 117 km2 (29,000 acre) reserve is privately owned and managed by the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation. The site is characterized by longleaf pine habitats mixed with patches of hardwood deciduous forest and wetlands. It is encompassed within the NEON Southeast Domain that is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Gulf of Mexico to the west. The surrounding region is a patchwork of forest, grassland, and wetland communities embedded in a matrix that is increasingly dominated by a fast-growing human population. The Domain hosts five other NEON field sites, three aquatic and two additional terrestrial sites, located in Florida and Georgia. JERC is colocated with the FLNT aquatic field site, on the eastern boundary of the center.
Relationships to other sites
This site contains:
Last modified
2025-09-17 15:09:35

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
2014
Observed properties
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
GERI✔This site is a verified "GERI" member.
NEON✔ (JERC)This site is a verified "NEON" member.
Photos
JERC Tower
JERC Tower
Geographic
View in site map
Centroid/Representative Coordinates

Latitude: 31.19484 Longitude: -84.46861

Size
ca. 11000.00ha
Elevation (average)
47.00msl
Elevation (min)
29.00msl
Elevation (max)
55.00msl
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Site information [.json]

Centroid/representative coordinates [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]
Bounding Box [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]
GEO-BON Biome
Terrestrial
Biome
Mixed Forest
Ecosystem Type
Forest
Mixed Forest
Air Temperature: Average Annual
19.20°C
Precipitation Annual
1308.00mm
Geology
Geological characteristics at JERC are typical of Ocala Limestone.
Vegetation
The Southeast Domain is a patchwork of forest, grassland, and wetland communities. The dominant vegetation at the Jones Ecological Research Center consists of longleaf pine trees mixed with some hardwood deciduous (e.g. oak). NEON provides data on the presence and absence of plant species at the site. The five most abundant plant species at the site include: Wiregrass (Aristida beyrichiana), Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), Southern red oak (Quercus falcata), Darlington oak (Quercus hemisphaerica), and Bluejack oak (Quercus incana).
Soils
The Jones Center is located on a karst topography called the Dougherty Plain. The soil parent materials are dominantly sandy coastal plain deposits that include clay lenses. Thus soils range from sandy to coarse loamy to clay-like. The drainage classes range from excessively drained sands to very poorly drained clays. Soil type is Troup sand with 5-8% slopes. The soils are loamy, kaolinitic, thermic Grossarenic Kandiudults.
Hydrology
The site is located on the Flint River basin in the Ichawaynochaway watershed region. The Flint River has a watershed size of approximately 14,999 km2 (5791 sq. mi.). Streams in this region are typically very hard and have a basic pH (7.25), likely as a result of passing through the Ocala limestone. They are moderately turbid (15.5 NTU), low in organic and have a moderate load of nutrients. Streams in the Dougherty Plain are intermittent.
Site Type
Non-stationary land-based site
Design of Experimentation
mainly experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
beyond catchment scale
Design of Observation
mainly observation
Scale of Observation
beyond catchment
Permanent Power Supply
Yes
Accessible All Year
Yes
Permanent Operation
Yes