STREON will be a set of coordinated experimental and observational studies to examine how nutrient loading, species losses, and hydrologic change impact the structure and function of North American streams regionally and continentally.  STREON will be part of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) – a US National Science Foundation venture to monitor environmental change using a cross-continent network of sensors and experiments.  The STREON observational network will consist of ~20 heavily instrumented core installations, augmented by additional re-locatable sensor packages.  The sites will be placed in “domains” across the US including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.  Sensors will be placed upstream and downstream of a reach at each site to allow material flux budgeting and estimates of rates of net nutrient transformations and metabolism.  STREON will also feature 10 experimental sites where long-term fertilization experiments will be overlaid by consumer manipulations simulating species losses.  All measurements will be made using the same methodology as at the core observational sites.  Additional biological measurements will characterize consumer and nutrient effects as they are altered by natural hydrologic events (flooding and drying).  STREON will provide an unprecedented platform for stream research and be the first concerted long-term, continent-scale stream ecological experiment.