In a new article in the journal Nature Communications – Rainfall Drives Variation in Rates of Change in Intrinsic Water Use Efficiency of Tropical Forests – the authors inferred water use efficiency (WUE) from carbon isotope discrimination in tree rings from tropical forests around the world for most of the 20th century (1915–1995). “As expected,…
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The annual Tahoe: State of the Lake report, by the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, presents data from 2018 regarding lake clarity, temperature, snowpack, invasive species, algae, nutrient loads and more, all in the context of the long-term record. The report notes, “Climate change is expected to impact all aspects of the Tahoe basin…
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An article in the new issue of California Agriculture addresses how critical research and dialogue are underway to understand the consequences of the massive wave of tree mortality in the Sierra Nevada. Over 147 million dead trees were detected in California by the U.S. Forest Service from 2010 to 2018. The massive tree mortality, mostly…
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The good news for Sacramento Valley growers considering avocados is that U.S. consumption has mushroomed to nearly 2.5 billion pounds a year, and doubling every decade, as this versatile fruit has been discovered as a delicious, heart-healthy source of cholesterol-free fat. The sobering news, however, is that though the trees produce an impressive abundance of…
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Scientists have successfully sequenced the coast redwood and giant sequoia genomes, completing the first major milestone of a five-year project to develop the tools necessary to study these forests’ genomic diversity. The research partners, composed of the University of California, Davis, Johns Hopkins University and the Save the Redwoods League, are making the data publicly…
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A new book, The Conifers: Genomes, Variation and Evolution, by David B. Neale and Nicholas C. Wheeler is now available. Authors David B. Neale is a distinguished professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis. His research expertise is the genomics of forest trees. Along with his research and teaching, he is editor-in-chief of…
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California produces 99 percent of the walnuts grown in the United States. New research could provide a major boost to the state’s growing $1.6 billion walnut industry by making it easier to breed walnut trees better equipped to combat the soil-borne pathogens that now plague many of California’s 4,800 growers. In a new study, a…
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Mars, Incorporated is developing a research and development facility in Davis, California, and will partner with UC Davis scientists (faculty and students) on developing improved cacao strains. David Mackill, director of Cocoa Genetics and Breeding at Mars, and an adjunct professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, has been part of the…
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Did you ever pass an orchard with branches bursting with flowers and wonder how the trees “know” when to blossom or bear fruit all at the same time? Or perhaps you’ve walked through the woods, crunching loads of acorns underfoot one year but almost none the next year. Scientists from the University of California, Davis,…
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Louise Ferguson, UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences and UC ANR, received the 2017 Outstanding Extension Educator Award from the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS). Ferguson is a UC Cooperative Extension Specialist and faculty member, starting in the Department of Pomology in 1984, then joining the Department of Plant Sciences when pomology merged into…
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