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Nearly Half of California's Vegetation at Risk From Climate Stress
Current levels of greenhouse gas emissions are putting nearly half of California’s natural vegetation at risk from climate stress, with transformative implications for the state’s landscape and the people and animals that depend on it, according to a study led by the University of California, Davis. However, cutting emissions so that global temperatures increase by no more than…
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Siting Solar, Sparing Prime Agricultural Lands
Unconventional spaces could be put to use generating renewable energy while sparing lands that could be better used to grow food, sequester carbon and protect wildlife and watersheds, says a study led by the University of California, Davis.
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Scientists Map Monogamy, Jealousy in the Monkey Mind
It’s perhaps one of the most common emotions to feel in a relationship, but one that’s virtually untouched when it comes to studying relationships in monogamous primate species. What scientists have recently discovered about jealousy in pair-bonded titi monkeys at the California National Primate Research Center (CNPRC) offers insight into human emotions and their consequences.
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Climate Change and Habitat Conversion Combine to Homogenize Nature
Climate change and habitat conversion to agriculture are working together to homogenize nature, indicates a study in the journal Global Change Biology led by the University of California, Davis.In other words, the more things change, the more they are the same.While the individual impacts of climate change and habitat conversion on wildlife are well-recognized, little is known…
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Study Reveals Evolutionary History of Imperiled Salmon Stocks
New technologies for analyzing DNA may transform how imperiled species are considered and managed for conservation protection, according to a study published today in the journal Science Advances and led by the University of California, Davis.These technologies can be applied to a wide range of species around the world — from mushrooms to walruses — but the…
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Melting Sea Ice May Be Speeding Nature's Clock in the Arctic
Spring is coming sooner to some plant species in the low Arctic of Greenland, while other species are delaying their emergence amid warming winters. The changes are associated with diminishing sea ice cover, according to a study published in the journalBiology Letters and led by the University of California, Davis.The timing of seasonal events, such as first…
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High-Severity Wildfires Complicate Natural Regeneration for California Conifers
A study spanning 10 national forests and 14 burned areas in California found that conifer seedlings were found in less than 60 percent of the study areas five to seven years after fire. Of the nearly 1,500 plots surveyed, 43 percent showed no natural conifer regeneration at all.
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Plankton make scents for seabirds and a cooler planet
The top predators of the Southern Ocean, far-ranging seabirds, are tied both to the health of the ocean ecosystem and to global climate regulation through a mutual relationship with phytoplankton, according to newly published work from the University of California, Davis.