Climate change is dramatically altering the San Francisco Bay Area’s ecosystems and raising profound questions among conservationists about how to help species best adapt to new conditions.
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 San Francisco. Groups of up to six gray whales devoured … Read more
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.
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 forest ecosystem in Northern California.
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 Cruz Mountains burned in the devastating CZU Lightning Complex fire. … Read more
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.
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 people made particularly habitable.
As the California Supreme Court wrote, "CEQA does not require an agency to consider the impact of existing conditions on future project users."
Wetlands breathe in carbon dioxide, but can breathe out methane.
Climate change seems like a critical threat to spiders. But researchers are hampered by a lack of basic information.
Drought returns to California, with a long fire season ahead.
Independent, nonprofit environmental journalism connecting people with nature in the San Francisco Bay Area.
