The National Ecological Observatory Network: Fish Sampling at the Continental Scale

The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a continental-scale ecological observation facility sponsored by the National Science Foundation to enable understanding and forecasting of the impacts of climate change, land use change, biodiversity, and invasive species over a 30 year period. The Aquatic component of the NEON observatory collects and provides high-quality, standardized data from 36 stream and lake sites as well as 10 STReam Experimental Observatory Network (STREON) sites across the U.S. using instrument measurements and field sampling. NEON technicians are actively implementing standardized NEON protocols to collect macroinvertebrate community data, water chemistry samples, and develop habitat maps. In 2015, NEON will begin to sample fish communities throughout the aquatic network. Stream population estimates and capture efficiencies will be obtained using three-pass depletion sampling. Lake fish sampling will include electrofishing permanent and random segments as well as gill and fyke net sets. Fish length and weight measurements will be collected to develop length-mass regressions to calculate biomass. Additional data products will include species richness, diversity, and evenness; estimated abundance, capture efficiency, percent individuals with deformities, eroded tissue, lesions, or tumors; and invasive species data. All data will be quality checked and made freely available via NEON’s data portal.