Martha Creek NEON - United States of America

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Basic Information
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Site Name
Martha Creek NEON
Short name
MART
Country
United States of America
Web Address
https://www.neonscience.org/field-sites/mart
Site Manager
Ben Vierra
Site Description
Martha Creek (MART) is an aquatic NEON field site located just north of the Columbia River Gorge in Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Martha Creek is a third-order wadeable stream that drains a 6.34 km2 (1570 acre) watershed and is a tributary of Trout Creek. The land is managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The watershed is dominated by old-growth coniferous forest and is designated a Tier I Key Watershed in the Northwest Forest Plan due to its importance in supporting threatened native fish populations. The 2012 removal of a dam to improve fish passage in the creek allows for the study of aquatic habitat restoration. MART is located in NEON's Pacific Northwest Domain (D16), which is bounded by the Pacific on the west and Canada on the north. It includes the eastern halves of Washington and Oregon and parts of northern California. The Domain hosts three other field sites: one additional aquatic and two terrestrial. MART is near the WREF terrestrial site.
Last modified
2025-09-18 09:43:10

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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✔ (MART)This site is a verified "NEON" member.
Photos
Martha Creek
Martha Creek
Hemlocks over creek
Hemlocks over creek
Geographic
View in site map
Centroid/Representative Coordinates

Latitude: 45.79125 Longitude: -121.93196

Size
ca. 767.00ha
Elevation (average)
434.00msl
Elevation (min)
300.00msl
Elevation (max)
1008.00msl
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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
Forest
Evergreen Forest
Rivers
Fresh Water Rivers
Air Temperature: Average Annual
9.60°C
Precipitation Annual
2329.00mm
Geology
Martha Creek’s geology is primarily volcanic, featuring basalt and andesite bedrock with colluvial and glacial till.
Vegetation
The mild, wet climate of lowland valleys in the Western Cascades promotes the growth of dense western hemlock-Douglas fir forests which give way to mountain hemlock, noble fir and Pacific silver fir at higher elevations. The riparian area at Martha Creek consists of mixed deciduous forest of red alder (Alnus rubra), Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii), and large conifers including Western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) and Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis). Some areas of the stream bank have dense growth of understory shrubs and devil’s club (Oplopanax horridus).
Soils
The substrate in Martha Creek is dominated by cobbles, including riffles and pool habitats.
Hydrology
Martha Creek’s drainage is largely in the “rain-on-snow” elevation zone, where alternating periods of snow accumulation and snowmelt are common throughout the winter. As a result, streamflow in Martha Creek typically peaks in response to these events in the late fall, winter, and spring, and decreases to annual lows during the summer dry season.
Site Type
Platform
Design of Experimentation
partly experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
catchment scale
Design of Observation
mainly observation
Scale of Observation
entire catchment
Accessible All Year
Yes
Permanent Operation
Yes