Upper Big Creek NEON - United States of America

Upper Big Creek (BIGC) is an aquatic NEON field site located in central California. It is a wadeable stream on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains with a watershed size of approximately 10.9 km2 (2700 acres). BIGC spans an elevation range of 1003 - 1700 m (3290 - 5580 ft.) and passes through mixed mature cottonwood trees, short grasses, and shrubs. The BIGC catchment is entirely located in the Sierra National Forest. This site is part of the U.S. Forest Service’s Major Land Resource Area (MRLA) 22A – Sierra Nevada Mountains and is within the Southern Sierra Lower Montane Forest ecoregion. It is part of the Pacific Southwest Domain (D17), which is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the east, and encompasses most of California. There are four other NEON field sites in D17, including three terrestrial sites and one additional aquatic site. BIGC is colocated with the NEON terrestrial site Soaproot Saddle (SOAP).