- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The troubled tobacco industry may be getting some good news for a change. UC scientists are engineering the tobacco plant to produce oils that, when extracted, can serve as drop-in biofuels to power airplanes, cars and other machines.
Research success would allow farmers who have been growing tobacco for generations to continue the tradition for a different purpose, while taking advantage of an infrastructure established to serve the diminishing cigarette, cigar and snuff markets.
Peggy G. Lemaux, UC Cooperative Extension specialist, and Anastasios Melis and Krishna Niyogi,...
- Author: Rebecca Miller-Cripps
Oaks (Quercus ssp.) are one of the signature trees of California landscapes and are among the most favored by wildlife, according to the UC publication Wildlife among the Oaks.
In addition, several studies have found that open space and residential properties containing oak trees have higher property values than those areas without oak trees. Ecosystem services provided by oak forests and savannahs include recreational opportunities, shade and shelter, increased property values, aesthetic values, erosion control, air and water filtration, and food and fuel.
However, the threats to oaks are...
- Author: Marissa Palin
California forests aren’t natural anymore. Over time, human impacts such as logging and fire suppression have left forests more prone to diseases, insects and wildfires. UC Cooperative Extension received a competitive grant from Cal Fire to launch a forest management training program for private landowners to help protect California’s forests.
There are approximately 33 million acres of forest in...
- Author: Kim Ingram
Ask most youth what they think about wildfires in forests and they will usually respond with "they kill trees and animals" or "it’s bad – they burn down homes and put out lots of smoke." They are partially right.
Ask youth about considering a career studying the history of fire from a tree cookie, a slice of tree branch that shows the rings, or lake bed sedimentation. Or ask them what role wind plays in how a fire jumps from treetop to treetop or how wildfire can help open pine cones and produce a huge flower show. Then they might respond with, "No way, is that a real job?"
Two eighth-grade students at Sutter Middle School in Sacramento got a chance to learn about fire ecology careers through a project in...
- Author: Aubrey White
With warm weather and mostly dry skies, some California farmers are prepping their fields for spring planting. On many fields used to grow squash and pumpkins, native squash bees (Peponapis pruinosa), valuable pollinators for squash growers, are nesting in the soil, waiting for spring emergence. With over ten thousand acres of squash and pumpkins grown in California in 2011, the success of pollination covers a lot of ground.
New studies are showing that