The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a program managed by Battelle Memorial Institute and supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF). NEON has been fully operational since 2019 and collects and shares long-term, standardized data about how ecosystems respond to changes in land use and climate. It also studies how ecosystems interact with the geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. NEON serves as a large-scale research platform across the continent to help scientists understand how and why ecosystems are changing.

Vision and mission

NEON's goal is to help people understand and make decisions about changes in the environment using scientific information about large areas of the country. This is done through combining observations, experiments, and predictions. NEON's mission is to create, carry out, and manage the first major scientific system across the continent to support research, discoveries, and learning about how ecosystems change over time.

NEON gathers information about ecosystems and weather across the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. It is one of the first systems to find and predict changes in ecosystems across large areas for many years. NEON has divided the United States into 20 different regions, each with unique plants, land shapes, climates, and ecosystem behaviors. Data is collected by field workers and sensors at carefully chosen locations in each region. This information is then combined into products that show how ecosystems in the country change over time and space. NEON's data is available for free through an online website.

Purpose and function

The data collected by NEON is guided by a set of Grand Challenges identified by the National Research Council at the request of the National Science Foundation. A committee was formed to examine major ecological, environmental, and national issues that require a large-scale system to monitor the environment across the country. The following Environmental Grand Challenges were identified:

• Biogeochemistry: The study of how chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes work together to shape the natural environment.
• Biodiversity: The variety of living things found on Earth or in a specific area.
• Climate change: A long-term shift in weather patterns based on averages from climate data.
• Ecohydrology: The study of how living organisms interact with their environment and the movement of water.
• Infectious Diseases: Illnesses caused by viruses, parasites, or bacteria that can spread from animals, birds, or insects to humans.
• Land Use: The ways humans alter natural landscapes, such as building cities, cutting down forests, or growing crops.
• Invasive Species: Plants or organisms that grow too quickly in a new area or move into places where they did not live before.

NEON collects data to study how land use, climate change, and invasive species affect biodiversity, disease patterns, and ecosystem services. Gathering detailed information about these relationships over time is essential for improving predictions and managing environmental changes.

The National Science Foundation describes NEON’s purpose as addressing key scientific questions about how ecosystems, climate, and land use interact:

• How do ecosystems and their parts change when there are shifts in climate, land use, or invasive species across different areas and time periods? What is the speed and pattern of these changes?
• How do natural processes like biogeochemistry, biodiversity, water movement, and biological functions interact with changes in climate, land use, and invasive species? How do these interactions differ based on the environment and time?

The data and information NEON provides are available to scientists, educators, students, decision-makers, and the public. These resources help people understand and solve ecological problems. The data is presented in ways that are easy to use and understand, including for groups that may not have had many opportunities to engage with science, to support learning about the environment.

History

NEON was first planned in 2000, with an early plan created in 2006. The National Science Foundation, the National Science Board, and Congress approved money for NEON in 2011. The program began working completely in 2019.

Starting in 2011, NEON, Inc., the company responsible for managing the NEON project at first, was checked by the Defense Contract Audit Agency for the National Science Foundation. Auditor-in-Charge J. Kirk McGill found that NEON, Inc. did not manage taxpayer money well and could spend more money than planned without warning. He also discovered that NEON, Inc. used taxpayer funds for illegal spending, including alcohol, lobbying, parties, and luxury travel. When these issues were not fixed, McGill told Congress directly. Hearings were held in 2014 and 2015. The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology confirmed McGill’s claims, and NEON, Inc. was removed from the project. This was one of the largest government contract endings due to problems in history. The National Science Foundation selected Battelle to finish building the observatory.

Layout

NEON has divided its measurement systems into five categories: the Airborne Observation Platform, Aquatic Instrument System, Aquatic Observation System, Terrestrial Instrument System, and Terrestrial Observation System.

NEON uses airborne photography and aerial LiDAR to study sites. This is done by slow-flying aircraft that survey areas at a height of 1,000 meters above the ground.

Aquatic sampling methods vary based on the environment, such as streams, rivers, or lakes. Automated sensors measure water quality and depth, while manual observations examine organisms, biogeochemistry, hydrology, and the shape of water bodies.

Each terrestrial site studied by NEON includes 30 randomly placed plots. At some plots, technicians monitor soil biogeochemistry and microbes; plant diversity, biogeochemistry, biomass, productivity, and leaf area index; beetle diversity; mosquito prevalence, diversity, life cycle stages, and infectious disease; small mammal diversity, population details, and disease; bird diversity; and tick-borne diseases. Each terrestrial site has soil sensor arrays and a tower with sensory equipment. Towers are built to rise above the vegetation canopy to measure air quality, carbon dioxide levels, temperature, and atmospheric pressure. Additional sampling plots are located in the area around the tower.

Locations

Sites are grouped into 20 different ecoclimatic domains across the United States. These domains are divided into land and water sites.

• Domain 1 includes the Northeast region and has one water site and two land sites. The office is in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Sites include Lower Hop Brook, a tributary of Quabbin Reservoir, Massachusetts; Harvard Forest, Massachusetts; Bartlett Experimental Forest; White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire.
• Domain 2 includes the Mid-Atlantic region and has two water sites and three land sites. The office is in Front Royal, Virginia. Sites include Posey Creek, Virginia; Lewis Run, Virginia; Blandy Experimental Farm, Virginia; Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Virginia; Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Maryland.
• Domain 3 includes the Southeast region and has three water sites and three land sites. The office is in Gainesville, Florida. Sites include Lake Barco, Florida; Suggs Lake, Florida; Flint River, Georgia; Ordway-Swisher Biological Station, Florida; Disney Wilderness Preserve, Florida; Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center, Georgia.
• Domain 4 includes the Atlantic neotropical region and has two water sites and two land sites. The office is in Guanica, Puerto Rico. Sites include Río Cupeyes, Puerto Rico; Río Yahuecas, Puerto Rico; Lajas Experimental Station, Lajas Research and Development Center, Puerto Rico; Guanica Forest, Puerto Rico.
• Domain 5 includes the Great Lakes region and has two water sites and three land sites. The office is in Land O' Lakes, Wisconsin. Sites include Little Rock Lake, Wisconsin; Crampton Lake, Wisconsin; Treehaven, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Wisconsin; Steigerwaldt Land Services, Park Falls District of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Wisconsin; University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center, Michigan.
• Domain 6 includes the Prairie Peninsula and has two water sites and three land sites. The office is in Manhattan, Kansas. Sites include McDiffett Creek, Kansas; Kings Creek, Kansas; Konza Prairie Biological Station, Kansas (two sites); The University of Kansas Field Station, Kansas.
• Domain 7 includes the Appalachian Mountains and Cumberland Plateau and has two water sites and three land sites. The office is in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Sites include LeConte Creek, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee; Walker Branch, Tennessee; Mountain Lake Biological Station, University of Virginia, Virginia; Twin Creeks, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee; Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee.
• Domain 8 includes the Ozark region and has three water sites and three land sites. The office is in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Sites include Black Warrior River, Alabama; Mayfield Creek, Alabama; Tombigbee River, Choctaw National Wildlife Refuge, Alabama; Dead Lake, Demopolis, Alabama; Lenoir Landing, Choctaw National Wildlife Refuge, Alabama; Talladega National Forest, Alabama.
• Domain 9 includes the Northern plains region and has two water sites and three land sites. The office is in Jamestown, North Dakota. Sites include Prairie Lake, North Dakota; Prairie Pothole, North Dakota; Dakota Coteau Field School, Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota; Woodworth Study Area, Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota; Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, North Dakota.
• Domain 10 includes the Central plains region and has one water site and three land sites. The office is in Boulder, Colorado. Sites include Arikaree River, Fox Ranch Preserve, Colorado; Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado; North Sterling, Colorado; Central Plains Experimental Range, Pawnee National Grasslands, Colorado.
• Domain 11 includes the Southern plains region and has one water site and three land sites. The office is in Denton, Texas. Sites include Blue River, Oka' Yanahli Preserve, Oklahoma; Pringle Creek, Texas; Marvin Klemme Range Research Station, Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma; Lyndon B. Johnson National Grassland, Texas.
• Domain 12 includes the Northern Rocky Mountains and has one water site and one land site. The office is in Bozeman, Montana. Sites include Blacktail Deer Creek, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming; Yellowstone Northern Range (Frog Rock), Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
• Domain 13 includes the Southern Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau and has two water sites and two land sites. The office is in Boulder, Colorado. Sites include Como Creek, Colorado; West St. Louis Creek, Colorado; Moab, Utah; Niwot Ridge Mountain Research Station, Colorado.
• Domain 14 includes the Desert Southwest and has one water site and two land sites. The office is in Tucson, Arizona. Sites include Sycamore Creek, Arizona; Jornada Experimental Range, New Mexico; Santa Rita Experimental Range, Arizona.
• Domain 15 includes the Great Basin and has one water site and one land site. The office is in South Salt Lake, Utah. Sites include Red Butte Creek, Utah; Onaqui Mountains, Utah.
• Domain 16 includes the Pacific Northwest and has two water sites and two land sites. The office is in Vancouver, Washington. Sites include McRae Creek, H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, Oregon; Martha Creek, Washington; Wind River Experimental Forest, Washington; Abby Road, Yacolt Burn State Forest, Washington.
• Domain 17 includes the Pacific Southwest and has two water sites and two land sites. The office is in Fresno, California. Sites include Upper Big Creek, California; Teakettle Creek, California; San Joaquin Experimental Range, California; Lower Teakettle, Sierra National Forest, California; Soaproot Saddle, Sierra National Forest, California.
• Domain 18 includes the tundra and has one water site and two land sites. The office is in Fairbanks, Alaska. Sites include Oksrukuyik Creek, Alaska; Toolik Field Station, Alaska; Utqiaġvik, Alaska.
• Domain 19 includes the taiga and has one water site and three land sites. The office is in Fairbanks, Alaska. Sites include Caribou Creek, Alaska; Caribou-Poker Creeks Research Watershed, Alaska; Delta Junction, Alaska; Healy, Alaska.
• Domain 20 includes the Pacific tropical region and has one land