Treehaven NEON / TREE

Treehaven (TREE) is a NEON terrestrial field site located in Lincoln county, Wisconsin between the cities of Rhinelander and Tomahawk. The 4.7 km² (1160 acre) site is hosted and operated by the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point (UWSP), College of Natural Resources. The primary land cover types at this site are woody wetlands, mixed forest and deciduous forest. This site is approximately 1.6 km (1 mi.) south of the relocatable terrestrial site Steigerwaldt (STEI), which is managed by Steigerwaldt Land Services, Inc. The close proximity and different management plans for the two sites could lead to valuable data on the effects of different management practices on carbon cycling dynamics. TREE is located within NEON's Great Lakes Domain (D05), which includes northern Ohio, Michigan, northern Wisconsin, and parts of Indiana and Illinois. D05 hosts four other NEON field sites: two aquatic and two terrestrial, located in Wisconsin and Michigan. [1]

The climate of northern Wisconsin is characterized by bitterly cold winters and generally cool summers with brief times of excessive heat. Precipitation varies from year to year, with the majority of precipitation usually falling during the warmer part of the year. Snowfall also varies from year to year, however, the very northern portion of the state can see heavy snowfall due to lake effect events along the southern shore of Lake Superior. The area can also be subject to severe winter storms and thunderstorms. From late fall to early spring, most streams and lakes freeze over in northern Wisconsin. In the winter months, snow covers the landscape. In spring, when the snow begins to melt, frequent flooding occurs. NEON’s Treehaven field site is typically cool for most of the year with an average yearly temperature of 4.8°C (41°F) along with an average minimum temperature of -1.4°C (29.5°F) and maximum of 10.95°C (51.7°F). The average precipitation per year in this area is 797 mm (31 in.). [10] [13]

This site’s bedrock is classified as Early Proterozoic mafic to felsic metavolcanic rock that is underlain by gneiss in some areas. The surface materials are loamy till from the Wildcat Lake Member of the Copper Falls Formation and meltwater stream sediment from the Wisconsin Valley Lobe. The primary parent material of this site is sandy outwash. [3] [2] [12]

The parent material at the site is sandy outwash and soils that are Vilas and Sayner loamy sands. Some areas are also underlain by coarse-loamy till, which leads to a slightly higher productivity in some tree species. This area is also slightly less droughty and has a higher productivity due to a thin loamy mantle in several sites that is not typically found in Vilas or Sayner soils. Soils at TREE are part of the subgroup Alfic Haplorthods. [3]

Treehaven has glacial topography that consists of glacial moraines and outwash features. Pickerel Creek flows into the site from the North and eventually merges with Big Pine Creek, which flows into the site from the northeast and out through the southwest. These both mainly feature warm water and muddy bottom habitats. This area also includes several small vernal pools and lakes. [8]

The lowlands of this area consist of mixes of black spruce (Picea mariana) and tamarack (Larix laricina) forests, non-forested acid bog environments, and hardwood and cedar wetlands. The upland sites feature aspen (Populus tremuloides), paper birch (Betula papyrifera), and red maple (Acer rubrum). The upland sites also contain red pine (Pinus resinosa), white pine (Pinus strobus), white spruce (Picea glauca), and balsam fir (Abies balsamea). Overall, sugar maple (Acer saccharum), red maple (Acer Rubrum), balsam fir (Abies balsamea), grey alder (Alnus incana), and Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica) are the most dominant species in this site. [1]

TREE is located in Wisconsin, which is home to a wide array of species. In this state, you can find fauna that range from small mammals such as the woodland jumping mouse (Napaeozapus insignis) and meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus) to large carnivores like black bears (Ursus americanus) and even a large population of grey wolves (Canis lupus). NEON collects data on small mammals such the two previously mentioned along with a few other such as the North American deermouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) and the southern red-backed vole (Myodes gapperi). NEON also collects data on ticks, birds, mosquitoes, and ground beetles. [4] [5] [6]

From the mid-1800s to around 1930, the land of this site was heavily harvested and burned with extensive cutovers and destructive wildfires. Eventually, farming was attempted in this area, which led to a period of grazing and mowing that lasted until the mid-1950s. After this point, the land came under new ownership. Under this new owner, the site was named “Treehaven” and a management plan was created for the area in which sustainable timber harvests and timber stand improvements were the goals. This management plan led to the planting of nearly 140,000 trees in the managed area. In 1979, 850 acres of this land were donated to the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. Since then, the university has expanded to 1400 acres through additional purchases and donations. Since their acquisition of this land, the university has used it for research into vegetation, fire history, watersheds and soils. They have also performed forest improvement practices such as timber harvesting, thinning and planting in about 500 acres of their land. [1] [7]

Today, Treehaven is maintained by the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point (UWSP), College of Natural Resources. UWSP maintains a leading natural resources education and conference facility in Treehaven that provides education and training to many current and future resource managers. This facility serves over 25,000 people a year with courses, seminars, workshops, school and youth programs, and even business gatherings. They also encourage recreational use of the area’s trails for hiking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. The current management plan for Treehaven was accepted in 2010. The plan focuses on improving education, demonstration and research opportunities along with enhancing recreation, forest production, aesthetics and habitat conservation. They plan to achieve these goals through a variety of active and passive management activities along with adaptive management to maintain a feedback loop to continuously improve the plan. [1] [7] [8]

The NEON site TREE was established in November 2015. Actual sampling of the plots in this area did not occur for TOS plots until February 2016 and until July 2017 for TIS. To help keep the data consistent and because of comparable availability across the United States, this plot used the 2006 National Land Cover Database (NLCD) for stratification. [14]