Stream Experiment

NEON will include a long-term experiment to test the effects of adding nutrients and excluding predators (fish) in small streams. The STReam Observation Network Experiment (STREON) is designed to:

• Study how stream ecosystems respond to the acceleration in nutrient loading, one of the key drivers of the structure and function of streams.
• Explore how large amounts of nutrients and the exclusion of predators may change the diversity of stream organisms.
• Study how algae growth and activity change with increased nutrients and the exclusion of predators.

The experiment will make observations of chemical reactions that occur in streams and collect samples of relatively large organisms (algae, insects, and fish) and those too small to be seen with the naked eye (microbes). Samples will be collected in experiment baskets placed in both the treatment sections of a stream (where nutrients are added and predators excluded), and in the control areas, which are left untouched.