The study and science of plants.
A project out of UC Berkeley recruits citizen scientists to help track the spread of sudden oak death. They do it every spring, and the more people take part, the better the chance we can protect precious oaks from a deadly pathogen.
What's cool as a cucumber, bitter as the biblical waters of Marah, and so well-rooted in the Bay Area that pulling it up is futile?
The Presidio in San Francisco is a forested oasis, home to around 300 bird species. But once upon a time, the park was coastal dunes with nutrient-poor, shifting soils. Just how the Presidio was transformed is a story of one man's grand ambitions that are still playing out today, as stewards of the Presidio struggle to maintain a forest as an historic landmark.
Now that the winter rains have finally found us here along the central California coast, my attention focuses on finding weather windows for walks in the wild. During a gentle shower, or a just after a stormy squall, the forests and fields are freshened and it's a fine time to take to the trail.
Thornewood Open Space Preserve above the town of Woodside isn't easy to find--unless you're a weed. This area is the only site in California where the plant has been found, but this invasive perennial bunchgrass native to Eurasia and North Africa has infested 10,000 acres in Oregon. A project from the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District aims to make sure that doesn’t happen here.
Q: When I see bees and hummingbirds feasting on even tiny flowers, I wonder if each flower replenishes the nectar supply, or is it a one-time offering?
The new Marin ordinance restricts the number of trees residents can cut down a year from five to two. But salmon advocates say it doesn't go far enough in protecting mature trees that are crucial to fish habitat.
By Laurence R. Costello, Bruce W. Hagen, and Katherine S. Jones, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu), 2011, 265 pages, $55. As Californians continue moving into woodlands, we are loving our oak trees to death. Many native oaks are killed … Read more
If you happen to be in El Cerrito and hear a frog calling, or catch sight of a large yellow butterfly flitting through your yard, it might be Jim McKissock's doing.
Advocates for native plants and wetlands say now is the time to worry about Algerian sea lavender, an invasive plant that barely has a toehold at the moment. If it spreads, it could become a major problem. But for now, it’s a test case for the Bay Area Early Detection Network, which aims to help eradicate invasives before they become intractable.
Independent, nonprofit environmental journalism connecting people with nature in the San Francisco Bay Area.
