- Author: John Stumbos
- Author: Katherine E. Kerlin
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, climate change and global greenhouse emissions are a hot topic these days. Dozens of UC Davis scientists study many facets of the causes and consequences of global warming.
One of them is Frank Mitloehner, UC Cooperative Extension specialist and professor in the Department of Animal Science at UC Davis. Mitloehner has studied the role of the livestock industry in contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Mitloehner was recently selected to chair a United Nations committee to measure and assess the environmental impacts of the livestock industry.
As chair of the new Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) committee,...
- Author: Rachael Freeman Long
California’s Central Valley is home to a rich diversity and solid abundance of birds. Many are year-round residents, while others are migrants that winter in our valley or travel to destinations further south. Currently more than 400 species of birds call the Central Valley their home; these include raptors, songbirds, ducks, geese, shorebirds, hummingbirds, and others. (Download a checklist of Central Valley birds here.)
All birds depend on habitat for food, shelter and nesting sites. With a decline in habitat in the Central Valley, primarily due to agricultural expansion, urbanization and water diversions, there has been a significant decrease in...
- Author: Ann King Filmer
Some of California’s many introduced species — plants, animals, insects, and aquatic organisms — have marked impacts on ecological systems.
Invasive aquatic organisms can impact fish, shorebirds, marsh plants, and other wetland species, and alter functions of lakes, watersheds, floodplains, and coastal ecosystems.
Estuarine ecologist Ted Grosholz, a UC Davis professor and Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, is an expert on invasive species and addresses outreach education on zebra mussels and quagga mussels.
These two invasive, freshwater Eurasian mussels—zebra mussels and quagga...
- Author: Amy Brasch
The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is one of the most widely distributed terrestrial mammals in the world. California is home to red foxes of both native and non-native ancestry. Red foxes in the Sacramento Valley were long thought to be non-native. However, in 2005 genetic analyses performed in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine’s, Veterinary Genetics Laboratory revealed these foxes to be native to the region and potentially in decline.
The estimated population size of Sacramento Valley (SV) red foxes is very small, indicating possible conservation concerns. In addition, SV red foxes occur in a highly modified landscape used for intensive agriculture. In particular, while preliminary...
- Author: Suanne Klahorst
Global warming promises to be among the most immense challenges to human adaptation in history, as big as social media. But the climate topic has been overshadowed in recent years by the recession. Just as the Dow Jones can’t be described by the fluctuations of a single decade, climate science is not defined by periods less than centuries.
These thoughts were shared at a breakfast Oct. 16 at UC Davis hosted by Capital Public Radio. The speaker: Ben Santer, MacArthur Fellow (1998), National Academy Member (2012), and atmospheric scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Santer said that when he hears about the tragedy of burdening youth with the national debt, he would like to hear more...
