Great Basin National Park (gradient site)
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Links to other gradient sites: Hanford Hart Mountain Reynolds Creek South Ruby Mountain |
Location: Great Basin National Park, Great Basin (IRON, domain 15)
Contact person: Angela Evenden, 775-784-4616, angela_evenden@nps.gov
Webpage: http:// neon-iron.org, http://www.nps.gov/grba/index.htm
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History: The Great Basin National Park was established in 1986 as a location that preserves the vegetation and geology of the Hydrologic Great Basin – the combination of basin and range geology with mountain ranges that are the primary receptors of precipitation into Great Basin with that precipitation draining via surface and subsurface pathways to closed hydrologic basins at lower elevations. Elevation within the park ranges from nearly 2,000 to 3,982 m at Wheeler Peak. Vegetation within the park ranges from lower elevation alkaline soils dominated by salt desert shrubs, through sagebrush steppe communities into low elevation dry to high elevation cold and wet meadows and forests to the only true alpine community in the region.
Key Characteristics: The Great Basin National Park is one region where the entire elevational spectrum of Great Basin vegetation can be observed. It is at the southern end of the Great Basin domain and spans from disturbed grassland through extensive sagebrush steppe and onto montane forests at the highest elevations.
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Climatic location of Great Basin NP within the BAR SALT gradient are shown in blue. Contributions to national gradients: drought, land cover, invasives, infectious disease |
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Existing infrastructure relevant to NEON: There are several weather station networks and the park has an official NOAA Climate Reference Network station in operation since May 2004. These stations provide high-quality temperature and precipitation data.
Facilities: There are modest laboratory space facilities at the Park Headquarters.