{"title":"LeConte Creek NEON - United States of America","id":{"prefix":"https:\/\/deims.org\/","suffix":"68d82455-3f56-45d3-a9c1-643f73744fef"},"type":"site","created":"2020-05-25T09:36:50+02:00","changed":"2025-09-18T08:58:00+02:00","attributes":{"affiliation":{"networks":[{"network":{"name":"GERI","id":{"prefix":"https:\/\/deims.org\/networks\/","suffix":"c3abdc60-49f1-49db-81fe-863b7dbb21d3"}},"siteCode":null,"verified":true},{"network":{"name":"NEON","id":{"prefix":"https:\/\/deims.org\/networks\/","suffix":"fd9fbc88-0baa-4d02-b824-dc29f721782c"}},"siteCode":"LECO","verified":true}],"projects":null},"contact":{"siteManager":[{"type":"person","name":"Bill Martin","email":"wmartin@battelleecology.org","orcid":null}],"operatingOrganisation":null,"metadataProvider":[{"type":"person","name":"Melissa Marquez","email":"marquez@battelleecology.org","orcid":null}],"fundingAgency":null,"siteUrl":[{"title":null,"value":"https:\/\/www.neonscience.org\/field-sites\/leco"}]},"general":{"abstract":"LeConte Creek (LECO) is an aquatic NEON field site in the northwest part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, located in eastern Tennessee. LECO is hosted by the National Park Service. LeConte Creek is a second-order wadeable stream with a series of steps and pools, consisting of many large granitic boulders and bordered by thick vegetation. It drains a 9.13 km2 (2256 acre) watershed. The park is characterized by abundant rainfall, variable elevations, and an exceptional richness of biota hosted by closed-canopy deciduous old growth forests. As one of the largest protected areas in the eastern U.S., it is the most biodiverse park in the national park system and the most visited. LECO is part of NEON Domain 07 - Appalachians \u0026 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 three terrestrial sites and one additional aquatic site. LECO is colocated with the GRSM terrestrial field site.","citation":null,"relatedIdentifiers":null,"status":{"label":"Operational","uri":"http:\/\/vocabs.lter-europe.net\/elter_cl\/10772"},"yearEstablished":2015,"yearClosed":null,"relatedSites":[{"typeOfRelationship":{"label":"groups with","uri":"null"},"listOfSites":[{"type":"site","title":"Great Smoky Mountains National Park NEON - United States of America","id":{"prefix":"https:\/\/deims.org\/","suffix":"30f887c3-135b-41e8-9f44-9b084ce2b3bd"},"changed":"2025-09-17T14:22:42+0200"}]}],"siteName":"LeConte Creek NEON","shortName":"LECO","siteType":"Non-stationary land-based site","protectionLevel":null,"landUse":null,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/deims.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2020-06\/leco_stream.jpg","alt":"LECO stream"}]},"environmentalCharacteristics":{"airTemperature":{"yearlyAverage":13.1,"monthlyAverage":null,"unit":"\u00b0C","referencePeriod":null},"precipitation":{"yearlyAverage":1375,"monthlyAverage":null,"unit":"mm","referencePeriod":null},"biogeographicalRegion":null,"biome":"freshwater_rivers","ecosystemType":[{"label":"Deciduous Forest","uri":null},{"label":"Forest","uri":null},{"label":"Fresh Water Rivers","uri":null},{"label":"Rivers","uri":null}],"eunisHabitat":null,"landforms":null,"geoBonBiome":["Fresh water rivers","Terrestrial"],"geology":"The geology at LECO consists of alluvium, which is sand, clay or silt that was deposited relatively recently by a stream or other body of running water, as a sorted or semi-sorted sediment.","hydrology":"LECO is a second-order, wadeable, high-gradient stream with an average fall of 10%. The creek contains numerous falls and rapids and a few deep pools and shoals. The stream comes to its only natural barrier at Rainbow Falls at an altitude of 1318 m (4326 ft), where the water makes a 26 m (85 ft.) drop. The flow is frequently interrupted by the heavy presence of small to large granitic boulders and is intercepted by falls and rapids. Hydrologic conditions can change rapidly as this area can received up to 85 inches of annual rainfall.","soils":null,"vegetation":"The area surrounding LECO is home to one of the largest stands of deciduous old growth forests in North America. Vegetation at LECO creek follows typical riparian vegetation and canopy cover which exists in a nearly homogenous pattern across the area. The site is dominated by tall deciduous and coniferous trees forming the canopy, and thick rhododendron bushes enclose along the edges of the stream reach."},"geographic":{"boundaries":null,"coordinates":"POINT (-83.50379 35.69043)","country":["United States of America"],"elevation":{"avg":579,"min":426,"max":1978,"unit":"msl"},"size":{"value":939,"unit":"ha"},"relatedLocations":null},"focusDesignScale":{"experiments":{"design":"mainly experimentation","scale":"catchment scale"},"observations":{"design":"mainly observation","scale":"entire catchment"},"observedProperties":[{"label":"DNA sequence","uri":"http:\/\/vocabs.lter-europe.net\/EnvThes\/21400"},{"label":"genetic parameter","uri":"http:\/\/vocabs.lter-europe.net\/EnvThes\/20942"},{"label":"land cover","uri":"http:\/\/vocabs.lter-europe.net\/EnvThes\/22142"},{"label":"landscape parameter","uri":"http:\/\/vocabs.lter-europe.net\/EnvThes\/20943"},{"label":"water parameter","uri":"http:\/\/vocabs.lter-europe.net\/EnvThes\/20945"},{"label":"water quality","uri":"http:\/\/vocabs.lter-europe.net\/EnvThes\/22312"}]},"infrastructure":{"accessibleAllYear":true,"accessType":null,"allPartsAccessible":null,"maintenanceInterval":null,"permanentPowerSupply":false,"operation":{"permanent":false,"notes":null,"siteVisitInterval":null},"notes":null,"collection":null,"data":{"policy":{"url":null,"rights":null,"notes":null}}},"relatedResources":null,"projectRelated":{"lter":{"lterSiteClassification":null}}}}