Caribou-Poker Creeks Research Watershed NEON - United States of America

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https://deims.org/312fac70-04a7-4cab-8d03-68b1fe3192f4

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Basic Information
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Site Name
Caribou-Poker Creeks Research Watershed NEON
Short name
BONA
Country
United States of America
Web Address
https://www.neonscience.org/field-sites/bona
Site Manager
Chris Baird
Site Description
BONA is a terrestrial NEON field site located in central Alaska, northeast of Fairbanks, AK. It is in the Caribou-Poker Creeks Research Watershed and contained within the Bonanza Creek LTER research area. 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. The 49.6 km2 (12,300 acre) site features a mix of hardwood forest, shrubland, wetlands, and scattered permafrost. The Caribou-Poker Creeks Research Watershed spans an elevation of 200 - 773 m (650 - 2500 ft.), with valleys and steep mountains within the watershed. BONA 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 aquatic site CARI.
Relationships to other sites
This site groups with:
Last modified
2025-09-19 09:09:46

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
2017
Observed properties
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
GERI✔This site is a verified "GERI" member.
NEON✔ (BONA)This site is a verified "NEON" member.
Photos
Field technician on BONA tower
Field technician on BONA tower
Geographic
View in site map
Centroid/Representative Coordinates

Latitude: 65.15401 Longitude: -147.50258

Size
ca. 3570.00ha
Elevation (average)
230.00msl
Elevation (min)
212.00msl
Elevation (max)
728.00msl
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Site information [.json]

Centroid/representative coordinates [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]
Bounding Box [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]
GEO-BON Biome
Terrestrial
Biome
Deciduous Forest
Ecosystem Type
Forest
Deciduous Forest
Evergreen Forest
Mixed Forest
Taiga
Air Temperature: Average Annual
-3.00°C
Precipitation Annual
399.00mm
Geology
Birch Creek Schist is the dominant bedrock type at BONA. Quartzite is also found here, and aeolian silts derived from the Tanana Flats overlay the area.
Vegetation
The BONA 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.
Soils
Soils within BONA 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 BONA are affected by the cycle of ice thawing and freezing, resulting in cryoturbation ().
Hydrology
The Caribou-Poker Creeks Research Watershed is characterized as a typical upland headwater stream basin in subarctic Alaska. 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
beyond catchment scale
Design of Observation
mainly observation
Scale of Observation
beyond catchment
Permanent Power Supply
Yes
Accessible All Year
Yes
Permanent Operation
Yes