{"title":"Walker Branch NEON - United States of America","id":{"prefix":"https:\/\/deims.org\/","suffix":"73f969f7-15d6-469a-a7f3-a6a810a6f10e"},"type":"site","created":"2020-05-25T09:36:50+02:00","changed":"2025-09-18T14:29:37+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":"WALK","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\/walk"}]},"general":{"abstract":"Walker Branch Watershed (WALK) is an aquatic field site located in the Cumberland Plateau within Roane County, Tennessee. The site is located on the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s (DOE\u2019s) Oak Ridge Reservation. WALK is managed by the DOE, specifically by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory\u2019s Multiple Research Division. Walker Branch is a wadeable stream that drains a 1.1 km2 (270 acre) watershed and is surrounded by deciduous forest. The region\u0027s rivers and streams harbor some of the largest variety of fish and mollusk species in the U.S. WALK 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. The Domain hosts four other NEON field sites, three terrestrial and one aquatic, three of which are located in Tennessee. WALK is colocated with the ORNL 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":"Oak Ridge NEON - United States of America","id":{"prefix":"https:\/\/deims.org\/","suffix":"ee70c9dd-c91b-4248-a7b4-2e760b0c266c"},"changed":"2025-09-18T12:58:06+0200"}]}],"siteName":"Walker Branch NEON","shortName":"WALK","siteType":"Platform","protectionLevel":null,"landUse":null,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/deims.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2020-06\/stream_walk.jpg","alt":"Stream at WALK"}]},"environmentalCharacteristics":{"airTemperature":{"yearlyAverage":14.4,"monthlyAverage":null,"unit":"\u00b0C","referencePeriod":null},"precipitation":{"yearlyAverage":1222,"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":["Terrestrial"],"geology":"WALK is part of the Chase Group. The parent materials at the ORNL site are residuum, colluvium, and local alluvium derived from Cambrian and Lower to Middle Ordovician geologies.","hydrology":"WALK is a wadeable, first-order stream with eleven springs flowing into it.","soils":"Forest soils found within the WALK watershed are acidic (pH 3.5 to 4.6), very cherty, infertile, and highly permeable. They are considered ancient and are part of the soil series Fullerton cherty silt loam (5-12% slopes), within the subgroup Typic Paleudults. Other relatively common soils found in the area are Montevallo, Bodine, Minvale, Sunlight, and Etwoah.","vegetation":"WALK\u0027s canopy consists of a dense hardwood forest dominated by oaks and hickories. At and around WALK, there is a mixture of deciduous species in the valleys with patches of shortleaf pine (Pinus echineta) and Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana) on the ridges. Mixed hardwoods at the site include chestnut oak (Quercus prinus), tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), red maple (Acer rubrum), white oak (Quercus alba), and American beech (Fagus grandifolia). It is 90% closed canopy when leaves are out, and the understory is mostly leaves and groundcover."},"geographic":{"boundaries":null,"coordinates":"POINT (-84.28041 35.95947)","country":["United States of America"],"elevation":{"avg":264,"min":230,"max":356,"unit":"msl"},"size":{"value":183,"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":"bacteria abundance","uri":"http:\/\/vocabs.lter-europe.net\/EnvThes\/22026"},{"label":"bacteria presence","uri":"http:\/\/vocabs.lter-europe.net\/EnvThes\/10122"},{"label":"carbon to nitrogen ratio","uri":"http:\/\/vocabs.lter-europe.net\/EnvThes\/21933"},{"label":"chemical parameter","uri":"http:\/\/vocabs.lter-europe.net\/EnvThes\/10333"},{"label":"ecosystem parameter","uri":"http:\/\/vocabs.lter-europe.net\/EnvThes\/20939"},{"label":"fungi species presence","uri":"http:\/\/vocabs.lter-europe.net\/EnvThes\/10340"},{"label":"genetic parameter","uri":"http:\/\/vocabs.lter-europe.net\/EnvThes\/20942"},{"label":"soil alkalinity","uri":"http:\/\/vocabs.lter-europe.net\/EnvThes\/22038"},{"label":"soil nutrient","uri":"http:\/\/vocabs.lter-europe.net\/EnvThes\/22260"},{"label":"soil parameter","uri":"http:\/\/vocabs.lter-europe.net\/EnvThes\/20944"},{"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":true,"operation":{"permanent":true,"notes":null,"siteVisitInterval":null},"notes":null,"collection":null,"data":{"policy":{"url":null,"rights":null,"notes":null}}},"relatedResources":null,"projectRelated":{"lter":{"lterSiteClassification":null}}}}