{"title":"Upper Big Creek NEON - United States of America","id":{"prefix":"https:\/\/deims.org\/","suffix":"a594cbf0-27ed-42b5-bcec-1b09635dba09"},"type":"site","created":"2020-05-25T09:36:50+02:00","changed":"2025-09-17T10:11:22+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":"BIGC","verified":true}],"projects":null},"contact":{"siteManager":[{"type":"person","name":"Jessica Bolis","email":"jbolis@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\/bigc"}]},"general":{"abstract":"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\u2019s Major Land Resource Area (MRLA) 22A \u2013 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).","citation":null,"relatedIdentifiers":null,"status":{"label":"Operational","uri":"http:\/\/vocabs.lter-europe.net\/elter_cl\/10772"},"yearEstablished":2018,"yearClosed":null,"relatedSites":[{"typeOfRelationship":{"label":"groups with","uri":"null"},"listOfSites":[{"type":"site","title":"Soaproot Saddle NEON - United States of America","id":{"prefix":"https:\/\/deims.org\/","suffix":"d070b1b9-76fe-4e91-a280-7f7476ae78df"},"changed":"2025-09-17T10:13:30+0200"}]}],"siteName":"Upper Big Creek NEON","shortName":"BIGC","siteType":"Non-stationary land-based site","protectionLevel":null,"landUse":null,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/deims.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2020-06\/48750966063_d5cdfe4293_z.jpg","alt":"BIGC discharge, photo by: John Schneblen"}]},"environmentalCharacteristics":{"airTemperature":{"yearlyAverage":13.4,"monthlyAverage":null,"unit":"\u00b0C","referencePeriod":null},"precipitation":{"yearlyAverage":941,"monthlyAverage":null,"unit":"mm","referencePeriod":null},"biogeographicalRegion":null,"biome":"freshwater_rivers","ecosystemType":[{"label":"Evergreen 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"],"geology":"Granodiorite and quartz monzonite. Mesozoic era.\r\n\r\n\r\n","hydrology":"The flow regime of Upper Big Creek (BIGC) is typical of snowmelt dominated mountainous streams in the west. Base flows are lowest in the winter (November - March) and highest in the late spring (April \u0096 June). BIGC has a mean base flow of 10 liters per second in the autumn months. Snow melt begins in March and peaks in April. Discharge during the peak flow month of April is approximately 21 times greater than base flow.\r\n","soils":null,"vegetation":"The Upper Big Creek Basin ecosystem is dominated by coniferous forest consisting of ponderosa and sugar pines (Pinus ponderosa and Pinus lambertiana), incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), and white fir (Abies concolor). The understory is primarily scrub-shrub. The riparian forest is dominated by cedar, pine, and fir with a small percentage (\u003C1%) of California black oak (Quercus kelloggii), white alder (Alnus rhombifolia), Oregon ash (Fraxinus latifolia), and black and Fremont cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa and Populus fremontii). The understory is scrub-shrub with ferns and grasses.The riparian forest floor contains much higher amounts of organic matter due to dead-fall, shading and higher humidity."},"geographic":{"boundaries":null,"coordinates":"POINT (-119.256 37.058)","country":["United States of America"],"elevation":{"avg":1197,"min":1044,"max":1373,"unit":"msl"},"size":{"value":340,"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}}}}