McDiffett Creek NEON - United States of America

McDiffett Creek (MCDI) is an aquatic NEON field site located in the Flint Hills region of Kansas south of Manhattan, KS. It is within the Urban Prairie Research Area, approximately 25 km (15 mi.) southeast of the KONZ tower. It is a second-order perennial stream flowing through the middle of agricultural land. The Urban Prairie Research Area is a small tract of land composed of native prairie, grazing, hay, and historically cultivated fields. It is managed by the Konza Prairie Biological Station in association with Kansas State University. The surrounding region consists of grasslands, forests, and agricultural land cover types and includes the largest remaining areas of unplowed tallgrass prairie in North America. MCDI is part of the NEON Prairie Peninsula Domain (D06), which stretches from Kansas through Nebraska and Iowa to southern Minnesota, and moves east to encompass Illinois and most of Indiana. The Domain hosts four other NEON field sites: one other aquatic and three terrestrial, all of which are located in Kansas. Land use and land use management are key grand challenge themes for this Domain.