Wildfire Impacts on Lakes With Dr. Steve Sadro, UC Davis
Extreme wildfires now occur with increasing regularity in western North America and other parts of the world. These wildfires generate large plumes of smoke and ash that can travel thousands of miles and persist for weeks or longer in the atmosphere.
Extreme wildfires now occur with increasing regularity in western North America and other parts of the world. These wildfires generate large plumes of smoke and ash that can travel thousands of miles and persist for weeks or longer in the atmosphere. These “smoke storms” block sunlight and deposit ash on surfaces. Lakes and ponds are affected by the reduced light and ash inputs from wildfires, but much about these potential impacts is unknown. Light and nutrients are both important factors that regulate the growth of plants and algae in aquatic ecosystems. Rates of primary production from plants and algae in turn determine how much food becomes available for other organisms, such as fish, and can affect many aspects of water quality. Thus, understanding how and why aquatic primary production is responding to wildfires is a critical research objective. This lecture will illustrate the scale at which smoke from wildfires is affecting lakes across North America, and highlight some of the effects with data from lakes throughout California, including Lake Tahoe’s response to the Caldor fire of 2021.
Featuring UC Davis TERC Associate Professor Steve Sadro, much of his research is conducted in the Sierra Nevada mountains, where steep landscape gradients provide a natural laboratory to test ecological questions. He seeks solutions to environmental problems and contributes to the conservation of aquatic ecosystems.
