https://news.ucmerced.edu/news/2022/four-phd-students-awarded-chancellor%E2%80%99s-inclusive-excellence-fellowship
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Author: msafeeq
Study Shows How Restoring California’s Overstocked Forests Yields Multiple and Diverse Benefits
Mechanical thinning of overstocked forests, prescribed burning and managed wildfire now being carried out to enhance fire protection of California's forests provide many benefits, or ecosystem services, that people depend on.
In a paper published in Restoration Ecology, researchers at UC Merced, UC ANR and UC Irvine reported that stakeholders perceived fire protection as central to forest restoration, with multiple other ecosystem services also depending on wildfire severity. Resea...
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PG&E Funds Critical SNRI Work on Sierra Forest Resiliency
A team of UC Merced researchers was recently awarded $100,000 from Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to identify ways to improve drought resilience and reduce the risk of wildfire in Sierra Nevada forests.
Professor Roger Bales, who also serves as director of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI), Professor Martha Conklin and SNRI Research Scientist Mohammad Safeeq will develop new approaches to accelerate the pace and scale of forest restoration in Calaveras County. Read the ...
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California’s Records and Reserves
The 2012-2016 drought was arguably the worst in memory. In a quick turnaround, the state’s infrastructure is full and water managers are battling with the wettest winter, and possibly year, on record since 1985.
The 2016-2017 October-February statewide precipitation total was 28.5 inches, an extra foot of water covering the entire state. At 180% above average, this year ranked first of 122-year period of record.In the San Joaquin and Tulare Lake region, the amount of precipitation was greater...
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Drought Impact
Agriculture
Forest & Water
Watershed Connections: Forest Health and Its Impacts Downstream
Mountain forests are more than a pretty place, more than tall trees and expansive meadows, more than a destination for winter snow play and summer river splashing.
The forest provides hundreds of natural services, upon which we all depend. More than 50% of California’s water supply comes from rivers that begin in the Sierra Nevada.
Persistent drought, past forest management strategies, federal budget decisions, air pollution, and climate change are impacting the health and function of the ...
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Groundwater and Surface Water Interactions……
Abstract
Groundwater and surface water interaction is an essential component of the hydrological cycle. The hydraulic connectivity and exchange of water between surface water (e.g. rivers, lakes, wetlands) and underlying aquifers provide many ecosystem services that sustain human and ecological well-being. Climate change, increased population, and industrial growth have resulted in substantial environmental (e.g. land use and land cover, climate, groundwater) changes across the globe. As a resu...
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Testing the recent snow drought as an analog for climate warming……
Abstract
Record low snowpack conditions were observed at Snow Telemetry stations in the Cascades Mountains, USA during the winters of 2014 and 2015. We tested the hypothesis that these winters are analogs for the temperature sensitivity of Cascades snowpacks. In the Oregon Cascades, the 2014 and 2015 winter air temperature anomalies were approximately +2 °C and +4 °C above the climatological mean. We used a spatially distributed snowpack energy balance model to simulate the sensitivity of m...
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