http://ucanr.edu/blogs/Green/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed UC work in natural resources, pest management, climate change and sustainable agriculture. en-us UC ANR http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/ Thu, 16 May 2013 08:29:17 PST Thu, 16 May 2013 08:29:17 PST UC ANR Beneath your home, below lawns, under asphalt streets, farms and natural areas there is a complex blend of minerals and organic matter that varies widely in texture, color and structure. Producing food, maintaining landscapes and building structures all depend on this little understood, but critical outermost layer of the Earth’s crust - the soil. Anyone can learn about the United States’ diversity of soils using SoilWeb, a nationwide database of soil variability first developed in...
]]> Thu, 16 May 2013 08:29:16 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10395&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette E. Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10395 The first thing I had to learn as writing staff at the John Muir Institute for the Environment, UC Davis, was the difference between "climate" and "weather." I compare it to reading a stock chart, there are jagged peaks and valleys daily, but it takes stock performance over years to reveal an unmistakable trend. The small ticks are similar to weather but the trend over decades is closer to climate. Nearly every stock chart has a huge valley at the year 2008, this is thought to be a once in a...
]]> Tue, 14 May 2013 09:40:27 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10380&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed sjklahorst@ucdavis.edu(Suanne Klahorst) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10380 Have you heard of the UC ANR California Naturalist Program? This new UC ANR program fosters a diverse community of naturalists and promotes stewardship of California's natural resources through education and service. Designed to introduce Californians to the wonders of our unique ecology and engage volunteers in stewardship and study of California’s natural communities, California Naturalist provides hands-on instruction and exposure to real world environmental projects designed to...
]]> Fri, 10 May 2013 08:10:01 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10351&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bgamble@ucanr.edu(Brook Gamble) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10351 With the world population reaching 9 billion by 2050, creative solutions are needed for global food security. The 2013 Thought for Food Challenge has put the call out and two UC Davis teams have responded. One group, Team UC Davis, proposes a social networking game that spreads awareness through crowd sourcing and draws donations through virtual purchases. “The team is using a game platform like Farmville, which they call Global Village,” said Patrick Brown, professor in the...
]]> Thu, 02 May 2013 10:27:22 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10290&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed gbhooker@ucdavis.edu(Bradley Hooker) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=10290 The troubled tobacco industry may be getting some good news for a change. UC scientists are engineering the tobacco plant to produce oils that, when extracted, can serve as drop-in biofuels to power airplanes, cars and other machines. Research success would allow farmers who have been growing tobacco for generations to continue the tradition for a different purpose, while taking advantage of an infrastructure established to serve the diminishing cigarette, cigar and snuff markets. Peggy G....
]]> Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:20:48 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9806&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette E. Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9806 Oaks (Quercus ssp.) are one of the signature trees of California landscapes and are among the most favored by wildlife, according to the UC publication Wildlife among the Oaks. In addition, several studies have found that open space and residential properties containing oak trees have higher property values than those areas without oak trees. Ecosystem services provided by oak forests and savannahs include recreational opportunities, shade and shelter, increased property values, aesthetic...
]]> Thu, 18 Apr 2013 09:28:47 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9769&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed rmillercripps@ucanr.edu(Rebecca Miller-Cripps) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9769 California forests aren’t natural anymore. Over time, human impacts such as logging and fire suppression have left forests more prone to diseases, insects and wildfires. UC Cooperative Extension received a competitive grant from Cal Fire to launch a forest management training program for private landowners to help protect California’s forests. There are approximately 33 million acres of forest in California. Forty percent of those acres are owned by families, Native American...
]]> Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:57:27 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9368&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed mpalin@ucanr.edu(Marissa Palin) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9368 Ask most youth what they think about wildfires in forests and they will usually respond with "they kill trees and animals" or "it’s bad – they burn down homes and put out lots of smoke." They are partially right. Ask youth about considering a career studying the history of fire from a tree cookie, a slice of tree branch that shows the rings, or lake bed sedimentation. Or ask them what role wind plays in how a fire jumps from treetop to treetop or how wildfire can help open pine...
]]> Mon, 15 Apr 2013 10:27:51 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9685&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kcingram@ucanr.edu(Kim Ingram) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9685 With warm weather and mostly dry skies, some California farmers are prepping their fields for spring planting. On many fields used to grow squash and pumpkins, native squash bees (Peponapis pruinosa), valuable pollinators for squash growers, are nesting in the soil, waiting for spring emergence. With over ten thousand acres of squash and pumpkins grown in California in 2011, the success of pollination covers a lot of ground. New studies are showing that native bees may be more productive...
]]> Thu, 04 Apr 2013 08:47:22 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9445&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed abwhite@ucdavis.edu(Aubrey White) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9445 Rodenticides used on illegal marijuana farms have already been shown to pose serious harm to the fisher—a cat-sized carnivore found in forests across Canada and four regions in the U.S. (Previous news article.) Mourad Gabriel, a doctoral candidate with the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, provides a more comprehensive look at the situation in the recent issue of The Wildlife Professional, put out by The Wildlife Society. (Article here.) New...
]]> Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:20:31 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9618&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed tjwood@ucdavis.edu(Trina Wood) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9618 Spring is here, almonds are blooming beautifully and farmers have not a care in the world. Actually, even though no crop-damaging insects or diseases may be present at the moment, the UC Integrated Pest Management program advises farmers to manage pests year round. Not sure what you should be doing? UC IPM has just published an online video outlining the year-round IPM program. How to Manage Almond Pests Using the Year-Round IPM Program is a narrated how–to guide for growers, PCAs, and...
]]> Tue, 26 Mar 2013 10:10:10 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9602&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette E. Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9602 As drought dries the landscape and rising global temperatures make for decreasing crop yields, farmers are faced with the question of how to feed billions of people in a way that both reduces global greenhouse gas emissions and adapts to the realities of climate change. Scientists and policymakers from around the world will gather today through Friday, March 20-22, at the University of California, Davis, to grapple with the threats of climate change for global agriculture and recommend...
]]> Wed, 20 Mar 2013 06:45:43 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9557&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kekerlin@ucdavis.edu(Katherine E. Kerlin) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9557 Fields with diversified, organic crops get more buzz from wild bees, concludes a synthesis of 39 studies on 23 crops around the world published March 11 in the journal Ecology Letters. The study found that wild bees were more abundant in diversified farming systems. Unlike large-scale monoculture agriculture, which typically relies upon pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, diversified farming systems promote ecological interactions that lead to sustainable, productive agriculture. Such...
]]> Wed, 20 Mar 2013 06:45:05 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9496&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed annguy@berkeley.edu(Ann Brody Guy) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9496 When actress René Russo appeared in a video (posted below) about “New Oak Threats,” she wasn’t acting. The veteran of big-budget thrillers like Lethal Weapon 3 and 4 and the Thomas Crown Affair expressed her personal convictions when she called for Californians to become educated and observant guardians of California oaks. “I love our beautiful oak trees,” Russo said. “But there’s a new pest in town, and we could potentially lose every tree that...
]]> Mon, 11 Mar 2013 07:11:52 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9449&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette E. Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9449 A little love goes a long way, especially when it comes to saving resources, saving lives and teaching youths responsibility. And a Solano County 4-H project is doing just that — with orphan kittens. Twenty-one 4-H’ers, all from Dixon, Vacaville, Rio Vista, Vallejo, Elmira or Fairfield, participate in the Solano County 4-H Orphan Kitten Program, doing their part to care for the orphan kittens that arrive at the Solano County Animal Care and Control Facility, Fairfield. The...
]]> Wed, 06 Mar 2013 09:04:31 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9435&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed kegarvey@ucdavis.edu(Kathy Keatley Garvey) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9435 At times during the winter and early spring it looks like a vast inland sea between Sacramento and Davis. This is the Yolo Bypass, which shunts Sacramento River floodwater around the state capital during high flows. You drive over the bypass on a three-mile-long elevated stretch of Interstate 80 known as “the Causeway” (the Blecher-Freeman Memorial Causeway). The bypass is also the site of a lot of innovative fish and wildlife work. From late fall through winter you can see...
]]> Wed, 27 Feb 2013 07:13:54 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9373&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jdstumbos@ucdavis.edu(John Stumbos) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9373 The third edition of Integrated Pest Management for Rice is now available. The publication's informative color photographs of pests and their damage, line drawings, tables, and figures are valuable aids in the diagnosis and treatment of common rice pests. New in this edition, readers will find information on: Exotic pests in rice Detecting, confirming and managing herbicide resistance New diseases: bakanae, rice blast and false smut New weeds: red rice, rice cutgrass, waterstargrass...
]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:21:09 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9344&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette E. Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9344 In touring the back roads of California’s great Central Valley during wintertime, you may be surprised to come upon hundreds of sheep grazing alfalfa fields. The sheep are penned in by electric fences and graze the fields to near bare soil. Look closely and you may also see some Great Pyrenees dogs, used to guard the livestock from coyotes and other predators. The dogs blend in well with the sheep and it’s often fun to try to spot them in the mob. You may wonder about this practice...
]]> Tue, 12 Feb 2013 06:13:32 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9249&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed rflong@ucanr.edu(Rachael Freeman Long) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9249 Got pests and want to use integrated pest management? Use a year-round IPM program developed by the UC Statewide IPM Program. If you’re not familiar with what a year-round IPM program is, think of it as a checklist for the agricultural pest management activities you should be doing throughout the season. You can take the new video tour "Using Year-Round IPM Programs" to explore the benefits and uses of IPM in field, orchard and vineyard crops. If you are managing pests in cole crops or...
]]> Fri, 08 Feb 2013 09:10:49 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9238&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed jewarnert@ucanr.edu(Jeannette E. Warnert) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9238 Releasing aquarium fish into local waterways — or down the toilet — can damage aquatic ecosystems in a number of ways. The fish themselves can become an invasive species, they can disrupt habitats for other fish and aquatic species, and they may introduce secondary problems such as harmful pathogens or other aquarium species (seaweed, snails) into the waterways. At least 13 of the 102 aquarium species that are imported into California have been introduced into California marine...
]]> Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:07:23 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9221&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed afilmer@ucdavis.edu(Ann King Filmer) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=9221