The Sierra Nevada, California’s iconic mountain range, harbors thousands of remote high-elevations lakes from which water flows to sustain agriculture and cities. As climate and air quality in the region change, so do the watershed processes upon which these lakes depend. In order to understand the future of California’s ecology and natural resources, we need an integrated account of the environmental processes that underlie these aquatic systems.

Synthesizing over three decades of research on the lakes and watersheds of the Sierra Nevada, this book develops an integrated account of the hydrological and biogeochemical systems that sustain them. With a focus on Emerald Lake in Sequoia National Park, the book marshals long-term limnological and ecological data to provide a detailed and synthetic account, while also highlighting the vulnerability of Sierra lakes to changes in climate and atmospheric deposition. In so doing, it lays the scientific foundations for predicting and understanding how the lakes and watersheds will respond.

About the Author

John M. Melack is Distinguished Professor in the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management and the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology at University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the American and American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Steven Sadro is Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Policy at University of California, Davis.

James O. Sickman is Professor of Hydrology at University of California, Riverside.

Jeff Dozier is Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and is a Distinguished Scientist for the Chinese Academy of Science.

Preface and Acknowledgments

1 • Introduction to the Sierra Nevada
Physical Features
Ecological Aspects
Cultural History
History of Natural Resource Use and Conservation

2 • Introduction to High-Elevation Lakes and Watersheds of the Sierra Nevada
Lakes of the Sierra Nevada
Descriptions of Specific Lakes and Watersheds

3 • Snow Hydrology
Snow as a Source of Water to Lakes and Watersheds
Measurements of Snow
Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Sierra Nevada Snow
Modeling Snowmelt
Future Directions

4 • Watershed Hydrology
Methods and Uncertainties
Precipitation
Stream Discharge
Evaporation
Water Budgets

5 • Watershed Biogeochemistry
Solute Concentrations in Snow and Rain
Release of Solutes from Snow
Outflow Solute Concentrations
Solute Balances
Geochemical Processes Influencing Solute Concentrations
Use of Models to Understand and Predict Hydrochemistry
Nitrogen Dynamics and Mass Balances
Phosphorus Dynamics and Mass Balances

6 • Limnology
Physical Processes
Hydrochemistry
Catchment Characteristics and Dissolved Organic Matter
Ecosystem Metabolism and Rates of Primary Production and Respiration
Aquatic Organisms
Eutrophication
Acidification

7 • Variability, Trends, and Future Scenarios
Climate Warming Trends
Changes in Precipitation
Regional Variations and Trends in SWE
Ice Cover Duration
Long-Term Patterns in Lake Temperatures
Snowmelt Dynamics
Hydrochemical and Biological Responses to Variations in SWE and Snowmelt
Future Climate Scenarios
Climate Change Challenges and Future Directions

References
Index

Reviews

"This is a book written with love, for scientists and by scientists. A compendium of extraordinary knowledge, produced over more than thirty years of investigation, it continues a long tradition of protecting the Sierra Nevada. John Muir did it with words and persuasion; the authors of the present volume do so with painstakingly collected scientific information."—Jill Baron, editor of Rocky Mountain Futures: An Ecological Perspective

"This study, covering several decades and conducted by researchers with long experience in the Sierras, is a lesson in thorough scholarship. Investigating some of North America's most vulnerable lakes, it belongs on the very small bookshelf of limnological classics."—David W. Schindler, Killam Memorial Chair and Professor of Ecology in the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta

"This unique and comprehensive volume lays the scientific foundation for understanding and predicting how mountain lake ecosystems have responded—and will respond—to climate change. The first of its sort, this book will be an excellent reference for ecologists and natural resource managers."—Rolf Vinebrooke, Professor of Biology at the University of Alberta

"This is the first comprehensive book that tackles, in a definitive manner, what we know about the Sierra Nevada's lakes and watersheds. It is well conceived and timely, and will be a must-have reference book."—Sudeep Chandra, Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Nevada

"Whether the reader’s interest is in nutrients, or acidification, or snow hydrology, or climate change, this book provides a thorough summary of what the accumulated research demonstrates for Sierra lakes."—John Stoddard, Research Life Scientist, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

About the Book

About the Author

Table of Contents

Reviews