Mountain meadows make up a small percentage of the land area in the Sierra Nevada, but not as small a percentage as once thought. This is exciting news as they have an outsized impact, often functioning as high-elevation floodplains. As snow melts in the springtime, meadows act like a sponge for cold water, holding on to it until the drier months of the year when downstream communities need water most. They also act as a biodiversity hotspot for birds, fish, amphibians, wetland plants, and insects. And a new model is revealing that there may be more meadows in the Sierra than previously estimated.  

Other wetland news:

• Arizona Repubic (Phoenix): Thousands of sandhill cranes return to Arizona. How to see them in person and online
• Capital & Main: Can an imperiled frog stop oil drilling near Denver suburbs? Residents hope so.​