Location
Research Topics:
Patterns and controls of nutrient cycling; trace gas dynamics, plant primary productivity and species composition; geomorphology, and paleoecology. Read More
Description:
Niwot Ridge is located approximately 35 km west of Boulder, Colorado, with the entire study site lying above 3000 m elevation. There is a cirque glacier (Arikaree Glacier [~90K photo and caption]), extensive alpine tundra, a variety of glacial landforms, glacial lakes and moraines, cirques and talus slopes, patterned ground, and permafrost. The research area is bounded on the west by the Continental Divide, with runoff on the two sides being destined for the Colorado and Mississippi Rivers. Read More
History:
Niwot Ridge was established as a site in the NSF sponsored Long-Term Ecological Research Program in 1980.
NEON
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.
NEON data (core terrestrial) from this site.
The Niwot Ridge terrestrial site is collocated with NEON’s D13 core aquatic site, Como Creek, situated at an elevation of 3,030 m in the subalpine.