As snowpack shrinks, Sierra Nevada mountain ponds undergo dramatic change

by UC Irvine
July 15, 2026

On a summer afternoon in the Sierra Nevada, a mountain pond can look calm and still, reflecting granite peaks and alpine sky. But beneath the surface, these small, shallow waters are anything but stable. In fact, they are among the most thermally variable aquatic ecosystems on Earth, with water temperatures sometimes swinging more than 20°C (68°F) in a single day. According to new research published in the journal Ecosphere, the force driving much of that variability begins months earlier: winter snowfall. 

The study found that snowpack largely determines how mountain ponds function during the summer, influencing water temperature, nutrient levels and the abundance of tiny aquatic animals that support the rest of the food web.

Keep reading: https://news.uci.edu/2026/07/15/as-snowpack-shrinks-sierra-nevada-mountain-ponds-undergo-dramatic-change/

Read the Ecosphere paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.70706