6 Million Acres to Go
California, the most biodiverse state, hopes to stave off the Sixth Extinction by protecting 30 percent of its lands and waters by 2030. How's that going?
Climate Change
The Nearly Unkillable Eucalyptus Meets Its Match
Eucalyptus trees on Albany Hill are wasting away from blight. Some people may cheer—but these trees are also home to endangered monarchs.
Logjam: The Supply Chain Problem That’s Keeping California From Preventing Catastrophic Wildfires on Private Land
Private landowners in California hold a huge amount of forest that's primed to burn.
In Bay of Life, an Internationally Renowned Media Duo Look to Their Monterey Backyard
With Bay of Life, Frans Lanting and Christine Eckstrom wanted to go past Monterey Bay's natural beauty to explore its past, present and possible futures.
Can We Have More Whales and Fewer Whale Strikes?
Anchovies sparkled and seawater sprayed from the crusty maws of gray whales as they burst through the surface, again and again, off the coast near Pacifica, fifteen miles south of...
On the Enigmatic ‘Flying Potato,’ Neither Plant Nor Animal, That Caused the Bay’s Biggest Harmful Algal Bloom in History
Heterosigma akashiwo can photosynthesize like a plant and wiggle like an animal, and it's here to stay — but it's still something of an enigma.
Modeling the uncertain future of Northern California’s bull kelp forests
For two years, scientists at UC Davis have been modeling a “Field of Dreams” hypothesis about bull kelp to understand what approaches could best help the recovery of the kelp...
In the Wake of Wildfire, Big Basin Redwoods State Park Partially Reopens to the Public
Big Basin State Park is not the lush, shady ancient forest it once was. In August 2020, 97 percent of the old-growth forest nestled in the heart of the Santa...
An Enduring Oak Mystery: Synchronized Acorn Booms
How do the trees synchronize their reproductive efforts? Oaks, the dominant tree genus throughout much of low- and mid-elevation, temperate California, are full of mysteries.
The Story of the Butterflies
At almost every stage of life, the butterflies are threatened by climate change, habitat degradation, and increased use of neonicotinoid pesticides. At the same time, monarchs flourished in habitats that...
