Dr. Sabrina Drill, of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE), is a Natural Resources Advisor covering both Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. One of the issues she is currently studying is the New Zealand mudsnail (NZMS), Potamopyrgus antipodarum.

NZMS is an aquatic invasive species that was first found in the United States in Idaho in 1987. It has since spread to every Western state except New Mexico. They were found in California’s Owens River in the late 1990’s. In 2006 it was found in the Santa Clara Watershed, which straddles the two counties Dr. Drill covers in her UCCE work.

New Zealand mudsnails are tiny, with adults only reaching 3-5 mm and juveniles even smaller, about the size of a grain of sand. They are usually light to dark brown, and may appear black when wet. They have conical shells that have five or sometimes six whorls.

New Zealand mudsnails reproduce clonally and bear live young. A single female and her offspring are capable of yielding 40 million individuals in a year! As is typical with invasive species, they compete with native invertebrates for food and habitat, and as they provide little in the way of food value, may have detrimental effects on fish and wildlife. They have a wide ranging temperature and salinity tolerance, and can survive for several days out of water under moist conditions.

Taken together, their small size, dark coloration, and ability to stick to things makes them excellent at invading new systems. They can hitch a ride on fishing gear, sampling equipment, shoes (hiding in the treads and under the laces), and clothes, as well as on the fur of dogs and horses. We know of no way to get rid of them once they invade a river system, other than drastic dewatering or poisoning. Researchers are investigating options for biological control.

The best way to manage New Zealand mudsnails and other invasive species is to try and prevent them from spreading.

Please help contain the spread of NZMS by doing the following:

• Stay out of infected streams and do NOT go from one stream to another in wet gear.
• If you need to go into an infected stream, consider having dedicated clothes and gear that you don’t wear anywhere else.
• Scrub all gear with a stiff brush before you leave an infected site; mudsnails are experts at hiding, so you can’t trust a visual inspection.
• Let all gear dry completely between visits, or freeze for a minimum of six hours between uses.

As Dr. Drill continues to monitor the distribution and impacts of NZMS in the Santa Clara River she will be adding her findings to the NZMS website. You can find the site at http://groups.ucanr.org/NZMS/. She will also be doing outreach for fisherfolk in the fall. Check back for dates and locations!

Ventura has a new pest, the cherry vinegar fly, Drosophila suzukii. This pest goes after not just cherries, but raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries. It has been in the Central Valley and along the coast for over a year now and is a serious pest. Background information and an outline for likely management practices can be found on UC ANR's Strawberry and Caneberry blog. Color photos of the pest and damage caused along with lifecycle information can be found here.  

Rose Hayden-Smith, our UCCE County Director, learned about the pest from Agricultural Commissioner Henry Gonzalez at a recent Farm Bureau meeting. She told Jim Downer, a Farm Advisor in our office, who grows berries at his home. Jim commented that he had seen a possible suspect on his fruit. Jim submitted the infested blackberry fruit into the County of Ventura Ag Commissioner and his suspicions were confirmed. In addition our Farm Advisors have been hearing reports from raspberry and blueberry growers about the effect of the flies on fruit.

Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

See below for great news recently sent to the Ventura County UCCE office! For anyone who is interested we have copies of California Agriculture going back to 1950 in our library. Feel free to come by and take a look. To avoid disappointment, please call first to make sure the library is not being used for a meeting.

Sixty-three years of California Agriculture journal now online

This week, California Agriculture capped off a two-year effort with a keystroke, posting the full text of 63 years -- close to 6,000 articles -- to the World Wide Web. This rich store of peer-reviewed science dating back to 1946 is now freely accessible and searchable at the journal's redesigned Web site: http://californiaagriculture.ucanr.org/.

The previous California Agriculture Web site included articles back to 2000. Until now, however, most of the journal's long history of research has been in the shadows, accessible only as bound volumes in the stacks of a few UC libraries and others scattered around the world.

"This highly valuable research is now widely available online for the benefit of authors, readers and scientists worldwide," said Janet White, executive editor of California Agriculture journal. "Our old, well-worn hard copies have been transformed into high-quality, reusable XML-based content and full-text PDFs, with the highest levels of data integrity and readability."

Published by the University of California, California Agriculture began as a four-page broadsheet in December 1946. Today both print and Web versions are known for presenting new, peer-reviewed research in a meaningful context with technical terms defined -- making it accessible to a diverse audience of people who can use it, taking the final step in the research and delivery process.

California Agriculture is one of the oldest, continuously published, land-grant university research publications in the country, with one of the largest circulations among journals of its kind. Print subscribers include 17,000 growers, faculty members, environmental and health professionals, government researchers, public officials and others.

The California Agriculture archive includes landmark research that knits together our understanding of food and fiber production, forestry, fisheries, human health and nutrition, and how those endeavors have interacted with the natural environment and its ecosystems at every scale.

Aptara of Falls Church, Va., was hired to process over 550 back-dated journal issues, using the University's custom editorial specifications, converting them into XML files with cross-referencing for immediate posting online. The Web site redevelopment team included Janet White, Andrea Laue, Michael Talman, Davis Krauter, Karl Krist, Dave Krause and Janet Byron.

California Agriculture is still fine-tuning the Web site, and welcomes comments and feedback. Please take the online survey on the home page, or write to us at calagwebmaster@ucanr.org .

California Agriculture is the University of Californias peer-reviewed journal of research in agricultural, human and natural resources. For a free subscription, go to: http://californiaagriculture.ucanr.org write to calag@ucop.edu or call (510) 642-2431 x33.

EDITORS:  To request a hard copy of the journal, e-mail janet.byron@ucop.edu.

For more ANR news, visit
http://news.ucanr.org

The University of California (UC) Statewide Master Gardener Program has recently developed a Web site for California’s home gardeners at http://groups.ucanr.org/cagardenweb/index.cfm – Advice to Grow By! This new site will be the UC gardening portal, extending UC research-based information about gardening, landscapes, and lawns. The site focuses on sustainable gardening practices and uses a question and answer format.

The Master Gardener website committee used the current California Master Gardener Handbook for structure and content. The site is incredibly informative and easy to follow.

Main categories on the navigation bar are:

Gardening basics * Your climate zone * Find your local Master Gardener * Pests, diseases, weeds * Vegetables * Nut & fruit trees & vines * Landscape trees, shrubs & vines * Lawns * Flowers * Indoor plants * Poisonous plants * Glossary * Classes & events

Another great feature on the home page of the site is “Your Weekly Gardening Tip – a UC Blog”. As the title suggests, a weekly gardening tip is provided to allow readers to easily access information pertaining to issues most likely of concern to readers at the time the tip was posted. As with the rest of the site, further related information is easily accessible.

Next time you have a question, or some extra time to simply enjoy learning, check it out. You’ll be glad you did!