Boreal forests are warming faster than the rest of the globe, leading to more frequent and severe wildfires. A main component of boreal forest recovery is mycorrhizal fungi, which establish mutualistic symbioses with host plants within the roots and soil. However, this symbiosis may be threatened by high severity fires, which burn the canopy of trees and the soil. This review will evaluate the current literature on high severity wildfire and mycorrhizal fungi in boreal forests.
As climate change and agricultural landscapes continue to intensify concurrently, it is important to understand how we can conserve biodiversity in human-dominated landscapes now and in the future. There is some evidence that the presence of thermally buffered habitats such as patches of trees and other natural habitats can help organisms cope with increasingly common heat waves. It is therefore important to understand how temperature extremes can affect the fitness of organisms in agriculture, where the majority of natural habitat is often removed. In this study, we sought to examine how thermally buffered habitats can help mitigate the impacts of heat waves on songbirds in vineyards across California’s Napa Valley. We captured 55 breeding Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana) and Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor), tracked their movements with GPS, and then examined how temperature and land cover within their home ranges influenced their body condition. We found that both species lost weight as temperatures increased, but the effects of temperature were mediated by the amount of vineyard and thermally-buffered habitat within their home ranges. Specifically, decreases in weight in response to temperature were diminished in areas with greater proportions of thermally-buffered habitat and lower proportions of vineyards. Together, our work suggests that maintaining and/or restoring natural habitats in agricultural landscapes could help buffer the effects of climate change on wildlife in human-dominated landscapes.
Historically, poisonous plants have been used for medicine, decoration, and religious rituals, and even as a source of immortality around the globe. Recently, there has been a push to turn to more plant-based medicine in the hopes of decreasing drug side effects while still maintaining their effectiveness. Get ready for a journey through the past and present medicinal uses of some of the world’s most dangerous plants.
Malaria’s long evolutionary history among humans and its mosquito vector has resulted in intense selection pressure on each organism to evolve traits that confer survival. This coevolution makes malaria a challenging disease to eradicate; therefore, achieving malarial control requires an extensive understanding of malaria’s evolutionary and life history. Malaria’s life and evolutionary history reveal that arresting mosquito longevity is the key to malarial control. This paper will demonstrate that an effective intervention strategy must take a multifaceted and ecologically conscious approach towards targeting the mosquito vector.
Most of us are familiar with the ongoing problem of plastic pollution in our oceans. The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that over 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean each year. Through UV degradation and choppy currents, these big pieces of plastic break down into tiny microplastics (pieces less than 5mm in size) which threaten marine animals that mistake these pollutants for food.
Over 14 million tons of microplastics, pieces of plastic less than 5mm (MPs), have accumulated in the world's oceans to date. Along the California coastline, this is attributed to high urbanization in former wetland habitats. A focal organism in this environmental issue is the eelgrass, a marine plant whose beds were once widespread along the California coastline but has since shrunk by 90% over the last century due to coastal urbanization. The remaining beds of the most common genus, Zostera, concentrate within bays and estuaries that receive an influx of inland freshwater; as a result they collect a large portion of MP-contaminated urban runoff. This paper will elucidate the mechanisms in which MPs get trapped in Zostera beds, as well as examine the ecological impacts this has. These findings will help to discuss Zostera restoration for its possible utility as a bioremediation crop for removal of MPs from water.
Each fall more than a billion birds transverse California’s Central Valley as they travel south along the Pacific Flyway. As these birds travel down the valley, many stop in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region south of Davis where thousands of bird-watchers come to meet them. The article guides prospective bird-watchers on the plethora of parks, preserves, and roadside stops in the areas surrounding Davis for observing all of the aural and visual wonders birds have to offer.
Some of California’s iconic freshwater fishes such as sturgeon, salmon, and trout are anadromous. This means that they are born in freshwater, migrate to the ocean as adults, and return to freshwater to spawn. Several species face extinction or severe decline within the next century, an endangerment facilitated by the presence of man-made dams. This review will discuss how dams affect anadromous fishes through habitat fragmentation, reduction in water quality, and the spread of disease.
Maddie is a PhD candidate in her 5th year working with Dr. Rachael Bay. Maddie uses genomics, transcriptomics, and developmental biology techniques to investigate the evolutionary implications of urban stressors on marine invertebrates, using Pacific Purple Sea Urchins as her model organism.
Dr. Yann-Ru Lou is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant Biology. Her lab focuses on implementing synthetic biology and biochemistry approaches to investigate the evolutionary trajectories of plant chemical diversity. I joined Dr. Lou’s lab in the Spring Quarter of my first year and enjoyed every moment of learning about research practices and working with nightshade plant metabolites. Nightshade plants belong to the Solanaceae family, including tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants. The Solanaceae family produces acyl sugars, which are specialized metabolites for plant herbivory defense against insects and other pests. I would like to thank Dr. Lou for sharing her thoughts on science communication and giving us an opportunity to learn more about her research. Hope everyone enjoys this lab spotlight!