Southern Sierra – Conceptual Model The Southern Sierra CZO is designed to improve our ability to understand and predict: i) fluxes of water, nutrients and sediments, ii) regolith properties, and iii) ecosystem distribution and function, across a 3000-m elevation gradient extending from the oak savannah that lies just above the agricultural Central Valley, through the mixed conifer forest, to the subalpine forest. 

Century-long ``experiment” Current ``experiment” How forests cope with dry periods Diagnosis of ongoing drought-induced mortality Scaling results through strategic measurements & modeling Interdependence of critical-zone processes Measuring regolith attributes Geochemical controls on weathering How regolith water storage buffers drought Predicting regolith attributes

Interdependence of critical-zone processes Regolith water storage buffers drought Coordinated, linked research at SSCZO enables explaining and predicting the response of southern Sierra water cycle to drought. Runoff (Q) reduced in Kings River basin during drought P = ET + Q - ΔS + No y axis label on multi-site graph. X axis labels are overlapping and illegible Before drought During drought

Changing the debate on Forest & Water Management Southern Sierra – Broader Impacts Education Outreach K-12 Changing the debate on Forest & Water Management Resource managers Society Research Community (top left) 2014 SCE science days (top right) 2015 Wolverton Meadow visit with SEKI scientists and land managers (lower left) Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest – USFS (Pinecrest project, thinned unit in front of control) (lower right) 2014 Sept All Hands field trip to Providence, at Wireless Sensor network installation The Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory’s outreach and education program has a three-fold mission: Foster field site and data use among the critical zone research community in order to rapidly and thoroughly understanding of Earth’s critical zone and advance Earth systems models Inform ecosystem and resource management decisions for the security and resilience of local and global resources and societies Increase public awareness of and interest in critical zone science by educating the next generation of STEM professionals and reaching out to learners of all ages Agencies and land management CZO All Hands