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.

Market: Students and researchers in geophysics, astronomy, and astrophysics. This book reports on the timely Earth Observing System (EOS) Program's wide range of scientific investigations, observational capabilities, vast data and information system, and educational activities. Because its primary goal is to determine the extent, causes, and regional consequences of global climate change, this program provides the scientific knowledge needed by world leaders to formulate sound and equitable environmental policies.