Christmas tree production is a big business that offers economic benefits and environmental impacts, reported Erin Blakemore in Popular Science.

Christmas trees' environmental tolls include fuel for helicopters to harvest and trucks to transport, but UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Lynn Wunderlich says fertilizer and pesticide use are the main culprits.

"There is pesticide use across the board," she said.

Christmas tree farmers can use integrated pest management tools to reduce pesticide use, including monitoring for pests and natural predators...

In less than a decade, some of the burned expanses from this year's megafires could burst into intense flames again, reported Ula Chrobak in Scientific American.

Frequent, low-severity fires, which clear out patches of low-lying vegetation and dry leaf litter, have an preventative effect. Research shows that areas burned by megafires are more likely to become susceptible to fires again. 

UC Cooperative Extension forestry advisor

After another record year for California wildfire, concern is now turning to the soil impacted by firestorms, reported Sarah Klearman in the Napa Valley Register.

High-temperature flames can incinerate vegetation and destroy plant root systems, said Toby O'Geen, UC Cooperative Extension soil specialist at UC Davis. The loss of vegetation destabilizes the landscape, making it vulnerable to serious erosion or flooding.

"The most important way to battle erosion is to have surface cover - living...