Subproject 1 will evaluate the landscape response and predicted time intervals for preferential occurrence of mass wasting events, floods, and wildfires. This subproject will also characterize the response of the Sierra snowpack to historical climate variability to inform forecasts of amount and seasonality of water resources.
Subproject 2 investigates the ecological response of plant communities and focuses on the sensitivity, adaptive capacity, and resilience of vegetation to drought along a transect from the San Joaquin Valley floor to the Sierra Nevada crest. Results will identify the vulnerability of key woody species to climate variability including the mechanisms behind differential vulnerabilities.
Subproject 3 focuses on the human response to climate variability through the sequestration of CO2 into mature oil fields and saline aquifers and the predictive mapping of treatable groundwater from the same saline aquifers. This work addresses the feasibility of carbon storage to replace the region's reliance on petroleum extraction. Center research will also quantify potential underground water resources and allow for the development of predictive models for the occurrence of treatable groundwater in similar water-stressed areas.
