Niwot Ridge NEON - United States of America

Niwot Ridge Mountain Research Station is a core terrestrial site within NEON's Domain 13: Southern Rockies and Colorado Plateau. The Niwot Ridge sits approximately 27 km west of Boulder, Colorado, and 6 km east of the Continental Divide. Topography, climate, and biota of the site are representative of Rocky Mountain alpine ecosystems, including extensive alpine tundra (mostly herbs, some shrubs and scree) and subalpine coniferous forests (Abies lasciocarpa and Picea engelmanii at higher elevations), talus slopes, wetlands and a variety of glacial landforms. Niwot Ridge is the highest field site in the gradient, at 3,500 m (11,500 feet). The sampling plots at the upper elevations of the site are in alpine meadow and tundra. A bit lower down, a few sampling plots are in subalpine forest. Remote sensing surveys of this field site collect lidar, spectrometer and high-resolution RGB camera data. The flux/meteorological tower at this site is 26’ with 4 measurement levels.The tower top extends above the vegetation canopy to allow sensors mounted at the top and along the tower to capture the full profile of atmospheric conditions from the top of the vegetation canopy to the ground. The tower collects physical and chemical properties of atmosphere-related processes, such as humidity, wind, and net ecosystem gas exchange. Precipitation data are collected by a tipping bucket at the top of the tower and a series of throughfalls located in the soil array. This site has five soil plots placed in an array within the airshed of the flux tower. Field ecologists collect the following types of observational data at this site: Terrestrial organisms (birds, ground beetles, mosquitoes, plants, small mammals, soil microbes, ticks), Biogeochemical data, and and soil data.Total data products planned for this site: 117