Caribou Creek NEON - United States of America

DEIMS.iD

https://deims.org/2907ca49-90e7-433c-b4e4-8ec2f5a19483

This record was created automatically using information from the:
Basic Information
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Site Name
Caribou Creek NEON
Short name
CARI
Country
United States of America
Web Address
https://www.neonscience.org/field-sites/cari
Site Manager
Chris Baird
Site Description
CARI is an aquatic NEON field site located at the Caribou-Poker Creeks Research Watershed (CPCRW) in central Alaska, northeast of Fairbanks, AK. CARI is a 2nd order wadeable stream contained within the Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) research area and CPCRW, encompassing 104 km2 (25,700 acres). The land at the Bonanza Creek LTER site is managed by the University of Alaska and has been set aside for scientific study. Parts of the NEON site also overlap land managed by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. CPCRW spans an elevation of 200 - 773 m (650 - 2500 ft.), with valleys and steep mountains within the watershed. CARI is one of four NEON sites (three terrestrial and one aquatic) in the Alaskan Taiga Domain (D19), which comprises Alaska’s interior and the Alaska Peninsula. It is colocated with the terrestrial site BONA.
Relationships to other sites
This site groups with:
Last modified
2025-09-19 09:09:44

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
2016
Observed properties
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
GERI✔This site is a verified "GERI" member.
NEON✔ (CARI)This site is a verified "NEON" member.
Photos
CARI
CARI
Geographic
View in site map
Centroid/Representative Coordinates

Latitude: 65.15306 Longitude: -147.50246

Size
ca. 3070.00ha
Elevation (average)
225.00msl
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Site information [.json]

Centroid/representative coordinates [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]
GEO-BON Biome
Fresh water rivers
Biome
Fresh Water Rivers
Ecosystem Type
Evergreen Forest
Taiga
Rivers
Fresh Water Rivers
Air Temperature: Average Annual
-3.00°C
Precipitation Annual
262.00mm
Geology
Birch Creek Schist is the dominant bedrock type at CARI. Quartzite is also found here, and aeolian silts derived from the Tanana Flats overlay the area.
Vegetation
The CARI area contains areas of permafrost, hardwood forest, wetlands, and shrublands. Moss covers patches of permafrost throughout the Caribou-Poker Creeks Research Watershed area. The hydrology and drainage of the area influences dominant vegetation types, with areas of poor drainage dominated by moss, sedge, and shrub species. Evergreen forest constitutes the majority of land area within the site. Black spruce (Picea mariana), lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), and bog Labrador tea (Ledum groenlandicum) are some dominant species. Alder, willow, and dwarf birch around 2 - 3 m (6 - 10 ft.) tall grow directly along the banks of the Caribou Creek channel. Moss, lichen, blueberry, willow, and shrubs grow along the channel as well, and some black spruce trees can be found in the area.
Soils
Soils within CARI are typically silty alluvium and colluvium materials, with layers of permafrost on the surface. Gilmore silt loam, Typic Cryochrepts, and Histic Pergelic Cryaquepts are some of the major soil types within the site. The soils within CARI are affected by the cycle of ice thawing and freezing, resulting in cryoturbation (mixing of materials from various soil horizons down to the bedrock).
Hydrology
The Caribou-Poker Creeks Research Watershed is characterized as a typical upland headwater stream basin in subarctic Alaska. Snowmelt is crucial to the flow of Caribou Creek, with winter freezing stopping flow through the system and peak flow during the spring. Caribou Creek’s channel is 1 - 5 m (3 - 16 ft.) wide. During peak melt times, the discharge in Caribou Creek can reach upwards of 1000 liters per second. Key hydro-biological research topics conducted in CPCRW include how permafrost thaws and how wildfires affect fresh water stream ecology.
Site Type
Platform
Design of Experimentation
mainly experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
catchment scale
Design of Observation
mainly observation
Scale of Observation
entire catchment
Permanent Power Supply
Yes
Accessible All Year
Yes
Permanent Operation
Yes