- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Even though California's majestic oak trees are generally considered drought tolerant, the last four years of well-below-average rainfall are taking a toll, reported the Sierra Sun Times.
"In some parts of the state, oaks are being deprived of water for as long as nine months, creating extreme water stress," said Greg Giusti, a forest and wildlands advisor for UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. Giusti is headquartered in the UC ANR Cooperative Extension office in...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Northern California's Rocky Fire is roaring through shrublands that have no previous recorded history of wildfires, reported Kirk Siegler on All Things Considered. It has already burned 65,000 acres and is 12 percent contained, according to CalFire's Incident Report.
The area has been protected from fire for decades, primed for the type of catastrophic blaze California officials have been predicting.
Siegler spoke to UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Across California, pine trees that have been weakened by the drought are having trouble defending themselves from bark beetles, causing widespread tree death. The dead trees won't cause fires, but when ignited they will be hotter and be more difficult to control, according to articles that ran over the weekend in the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat and the Desert Sun.
“Statewide, it's horrific,” said Greg Giusti, UC ANR Cooperative Extension advisor.
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
To some, turkey vultures are repugnant scavengers that feed on road kill. But to Greg Giusti, they are an intriguing, unexplored scientific topic, said an article in the Ukiah Daily Journal.
"They aren't warm and cuddly so people aren't drawn to them," Giusti said. "My academic curiosity drew me in."
Giusti has discovered that the birds nest in cavities of old, long-dead oak trees.
"We have seen the vultures jump inside the hollow, the middle of the tree, some 8 to 10 feet down," Giusti said. "Since there is not sufficient diameter...
- Author: Brenda Dawson
An article in The (Stockton) Record by reporter Alex Breitler took a closer look at an economic analysis of building a peripheral canal to divert water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The analysis, written by David Sunding, UC Cooperative Extension economist at Berkeley, found that more than 129,000 jobs would be created in order to build a peripheral canal or tunnel. Sunding presented the report at a public meeting where he gave this caveat, quoted in the article: "[The Bay Delta Conservation Plan] is an extremely complex activity with all kinds of economic...