Invasive aquatic plants threaten Lake Tahoe’s clear waters
The plants look like seaweed, rising from the shallow areas of Lake Tahoe to the surface. But in this fresh-water, high-mountain lake with a $5-billion recreation economy, invasive plants threaten both the environment and an international tourist destination.
The Anatomy of a Broken Heart
A traumatic emotional event can cause the heart to change its shape and become less efficient. It’s called “broken heart syndrome” for a reason.
Nevada’s Biggest Little Invasive: Cheatgrass
Cheatgrass is an invasive plant that is contributing to hotter and more frequent fires in the intermountain West. And, it’s tough to eradicate.
Dee the desert tortoise gets a new home
A tortoise adoption group trains people to become custodians for long-lived but endangered desert tortoises in Nevada.
Meadow ‘sponges’ can help store water as snowpack shrinks
A project to restore a damaged meadow in the Sierra Nevada shows the possibilities for improving an important mountain ecosystem. It can also store precious groundwater as climate change shrinks mountain snowpack, a vital source of fresh water in the American West.
Trees move uphill as Sierra Nevada climate warms
Warming Sierra Nevada temperatures mean young trees of cold-adapted species are growing at elevations hundreds of feet higher than trees counted 80 years ago — taking entire habitats with them.
Shrinking Sierra snowpack: Warming temperatures shift snow to rain, forcing water agencies to adapt
As wintertime temperatures warm in the Sierra Nevada, precipitation shifts from snow to rain. That means snowpack is shrinking — and changing the entire foundation for people’s water supply across the American West.