Groundwater evapotranspiration in riparian meadows of the Sierra Nevada
Matt Kondolf, Professor
Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning
Applications for Fall 2025 are closed for this project.
In wet meadows of the Sierra Nevada, seasonal productivity of hydrophytic species depends on near-surface groundwater to sustain photosynthesis through the region’s summer drought. Seasonal meteorological patterns of energy and water (e.g. temperature, light availability, groundwater levels and humidity) drive plant phenology, the cycles of plant growth, reproduction and senescence. During the period when snowmelt and maximum daylight align, plants photosynthesize and grow. As the climate changes, we seek to understand how shifts in seasonal patterns will affect meadow vegetation and ecosystems.
We are using field studies of groundwater level variation and plant phenology to understand the processes that drive plant productivity meadows at the UC Berkeley's Sagehen Reserve. From this we may better identify which meadows may serve as stable hydrologic efugia as the climate shifts toward warmer temperatures, less snowpack and more rainfall.
Using a combination of field observations, meteorological data, and remotely sensed imagery, the research apprentice will help develop time series of plant productivity and groundwater levels for four meadows across different elevations, hydrogeomorphic process zones, and plant functional types. This position allows the apprentice to develop skills in environmental time series analysis and apply physical process models to understanding the hydrologic cycle and seasonal plant water use in groundwater-dependent meadows. It will expose students to climate change research that can inform strategies of meadow restoration and conservation across the Sierra Nevada. The student will collaborate with a Ph.D. candidate who has conducted initial surveys and is working to process data and develop a manuscript, including figures, for publication.
Role: The overall goal is to process and analyze data, develop results, and communicate findings as figures and text for conference presentations, posters and publications.
Major tasks to support this goal include:
Data collection in two meadows at UC Berkeley's Sagehen Reserve (through October).
Develop groundwater level time series data based on ten-minute interval logger data from 18 sites across two meadows at Sagehen Reserve.
Calculate evapotranspiration rates using different methods, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Some will use sub-hourly groundwater level data and others will model evapotranspiration based on energy and water balance.
Develop and validate phenology curves from on-site camera images of vegetation, and possibly satellite imagery. Relate phenology and plant water use through the multiple time series.
Understand how soil stratigraphy influences evaporation rates and their calculations using field data and physics-based models.
Evaluate how seasonal evapotranspiration rates differ across meadow elevations, plant functional types, hydrogeomorphic process zones; what is role of evapotranspiration in distribution and phenology of plant species and functional types?
Contribute to literature reviews on the above topics, development and refinement of data plots, figures, posters and slides for presentation.
These are possible tasks to give an idea of the scope of the project. After co-developing a learning contract, apprentice(s) will be assigned tasks based on their skills and interests.
Qualifications: Apprentice must have a background in basic physics, data science, and/or statistics. More advanced coursework is not required, but would be helpful. An interest in hydrology and ecology is a must, and coursework or experience with either (e.g. with meadows, wetlands, rivers, or plants) would be helpful.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Jennifer Natali, Ph.D. candidate
Hours: 6-8 hrs
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