Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve | Critical Zone Exploration Network

Group:

Location

45° 24' 3.6" N, 93° 12' 3.6" W

Brief Site Description:

Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve is a 2,200-hectare experimental ecological reserve operated by the University of Minnesota.

Detailed Site Description:

Cedar Creek LTER

Research Topics:
Successional dynamics; primary productivity and disturbance patterns; nutrient budgets and cycles; climatic variation and the wetland/upland boundary; plant-herbivore dynamics.
Description:
Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve (CCESR), established in 1940, was designated a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service in 1975. In 1977 it was included as an Experimental Ecology Reserve in a proposed national network, and in 1982 it was one of 11 sites in the United States selected by the National Science Foundation for funding of Long Term Ecological Research (LTER).
History:
Early History of Cedar Creek - Background Events and Early Use and Development (1929-1947) Excerpted from Hodson, A.C., 1985. History of the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve. University of Minnesota Field Biology Program Occasional Papers Number 2.

Field Site Type:

US affiliate

Registration:

Unregistered

Network(s):

LTER

LTSE

Study Start Date:

1982

Mean Annual Precipitation:

801 millimeters / year

Average Annual Temperature:

7°C

Average Summer Temperature:

22°C

Average Winter Temperature:

-10°C

Land Cover:

Mixed Forest

Grassland/Herbaceous

Geology:

other sedimentary

Soil Order:

Alfisol

Entisol

Histosol

Mollisol

Hydrology: Name:

Cedar Creek

Hydrology: Surface water stream order:

Unknown

Hydrology: Surface water - Stream Flow Performance:

Perennial

Hydrology: Groundwater:

Arrangment of Aquifer Components - Single, dominant unconfined aquifer

Climate:

Temperate

Sub-Climate:

Humid

Group visibility:

Public - accessible to all site users