Tag: Sierra Nevada
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A “Peak” into California’s Alpine Lakes and their Food Webs
By Christine A. Parisek “The Sierra Nevada is five hundred miles of rock put right. Granite freed by glaciers and lifted through clouds where water, frozen and fine, has scraped and washed it into a high country so brilliant it brings light into night.” – Willard Wyman Alpine lakes are fascinating ecosystems. They are recognized…
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Life springs in Sierra rivers as springtime flows recede
By Sarah Yarnell and Ryan Peek In case you hadn’t heard, the annual Sierra “spring snowmelt recession” has begun. The foothill yellow-legged frog certainly knew. Adapted to the seasonal patterns of California’s climate, this rare frog and other native amphibians, fishes and bottom-dwelling invertebrates are genetically wired to reproduce during the spring snowmelt when river…
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Sierra frogs breed insights on river management
By Sarah Yarnell, hydrologist, UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences When dam operators schedule outflows to satisfy their downstream environmental obligations, they typically want to know, “How much?” How much cold mountain water must Shasta Dam release to preserve the Sacramento River’s imperiled winter run of salmon? How much fresh Sierra water must flow out…
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An uncertain future for whitewater boating under climate change
Scott Ligare, Graduate Student Researcher, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, UC Davis Joshua Viers, Associate Research Scientist, Department of Environmental Science & Policy, UC Davis Summer arrived belatedly in northern California and high snowmelt runoff is attracting adrenaline junkies seeking to raft and kayak Sierra Nevada rivers. With its many large rivers, the west slope…