Mountain Lake Biological Station NEON - United States of America

Mountain Lake Biological Station (MLBS) is a terrestrial NEON field site located in a remote but accessible southern portion of the Appalachian Mountain Chain in southwestern Virginia, approximately 20 km (12 mi.) northwest of Blacksburg, VA. The Jefferson National Forest is contiguous to the station, with 42.5 km2 (10,500 acres) of woodland designated as National Forest Service Wilderness. The 2.3 km2 (570 acre) field site is comprised of three parcels of land, with the northern two segments owned by the U.S. Forest Service and the southern portion hosted by the University of Virginia. The station is situated on the elevated divide between the Atlantic and Mississippi drainage basins and is characterized by abrupt changes in environmental gradients and fine-scale variances in ecological niches. MLBS is part of NEON Domain 07 - Appalachians & Cumberland Plateau, which includes eastern Tennessee, most of Kentucky, southern Ohio, and parts of North Carolina, Georgia, Indiana, and Illinois. D07 includes four other NEON field sites, including two additional terrestrial sites and two aquatic sites. It is the only NEON D07 site located in Virginia, as the other four Domain 07 sites are found in Tennessee.