The Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory and the Coweeta LTER Project

Abstract

The Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory (CHL) is a USDA Forest Service (FS) Experimental Forest, located in western North Carolina, in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Established in 1934, CHL has long-term data records that include climate, streamflow, stream and atmospheric chemistry, and vegetation in several small, experimentally-manipulated and reference watersheds. In addition to these long-term data, additional data associated with specific projects have been collected and are available through publications and electronic archives. Notably, CHL was a member of the National Science Foundation-funded Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program from 1980–2020, which resulted in significant scientific advances and rich data sets on the five core LTER research areas: primary productivity, population studies, movement of organic matter, movement of inorganic matter, and disturbance patterns. Here we provide a brief site description and history of the CHL, including descriptions of gauged watersheds and data archives.

Keywords

Climate, experimental forest, long-term data, paired watershed, precipitation, southern Appalachian, streamflow, watersheds

Citation

Miniat, Chelcy Ford; Oishi, Andrew Christopher; Bolstad, Paul V.; Jackson, C. Rhett; Liu, Ning; Love, Jason P.; Pringle, Catherine M.; Solomon, Kelsey J.; Wurzburger, Nina. 2021. The Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory and the Coweeta LTER Project . Hydrological Processes. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14302.