Research
Can Organic Crops Compete With Industrial Agriculture?
A new study representing a collaboration across several ESPM lab groups has found that organic farming is much more productive than commonly perceived.
Coexist or Perish, Wildfire Analysis Says
A new international research review led by UC Berkeley says the debate over fuel-reduction techniques is only a small part of a much larger fire problem.
Changing Farming Practices to Preserve Evolutionary Diversity
A new study by ESPM postdoctoral researchers Daniel Karp and Leithen M'gonigle, and professor Claire Kremen, highlights just how dramatic the evolutionary diversity of wildlife is affected when forests are transformed into agricultural lands.
Study Suggests Changes in Farming Practices can Save Evolutionary Diversity
A new study by biologists at Stanford University and UC Berkeley highlights the dramatic hit on the evolutionary diversity of wildlife when forests are transformed into agricultural lands.
Biologists Try to Dig Endangered Pupfish Out of its Hole
A conservation biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, is giving important guidance in the efforts to rescue Devils Hole pupfish by establishing a captive breeding program.
Global Wildlife Decline Driving Slave Labor, Organized Crime
Global decline of wildlife populations is driving increases in violent conflicts, organized crime and child labor around the world, according to a new policy paper led by UC Berkeley researchers.
Calling on the Community: Detecting and Managing Sudden Oak Death
Sudden Oak Death (SOD), a serious exotic disease, is threatening the survival of tanoak and several oak species in California. Community volunteers can help by collecting and submitting leaf samples for DNA-based analyses.
Sudden Oak Death Drying Up With Drought
The California drought is helping save the state's signature tree - the mighty oak - by slowing down the spread of the plague-like disease scientists call sudden oak death.
Central Valley Sees Big Drop in Wintertime Fog Needed for Fruit and Nut Crops
California's winter tule fog has declined dramatically over the past three decades, raising a red flag for the state's multibillion dollar agricultural industry, according to researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
Study Shows How Brazilian Cattle Ranching Policies Can Reduce Deforestation
A new study by UC Berkeley researchers and international collaborators finds that policies to support sustainable cattle ranching practices in Brazil could put a big dent in the beef and food industry’s greenhouse gas impact.
Will It Live or Die? Researchers Develop Biomarkers to Manage Impact of Sudden Oak Death
Ohio State University researchers have developed a way to predict the resistance or susceptibility of trees to sudden oak death disease, providing forest managers with the first effective method to manage trees in infested natural areas and in adjoining areas where the disease is expected in the future.
Eel River Observatory seeks clues to watershed’s future
Over the next five years, UC Berkeley scientists will study the Eel River watershed in Northern California. What they uncover will help improve global climate models and modeling tools that can be used by state or regional decision makers to guide planning.
Got calcium? Mineral key to restoring acid rain-damaged forests
Calcium can do much more than strengthen bones. The mineral is a critical nutrient for healthy tree growth, and new research shows that adding it to the soil helps reverse the decades-long decline of forests ailing from the effects of acid rain.
Professor Rachel Morello-Frosch talks about how climate change hits disadvantaged the hardest
Low-income neighborhoods are more often exposed to poor environmental quality when compared to wealthier communities, and scientists are saying this gap will increase as climate change is more widely felt.
Minorities more likely to live in 'urban heat islands,' study finds
Public health and environmental science professor Rachel Morello-Frosch has found that minorities are more likely to live in "urban heat islands" and are most at risk during heat waves.
Scientists Undertake Extensive Field Campaign to Study U.S. Southeast Atmospheric Chemistry
In the largest U.S. atmospheric chemistry field project in decades, researchers sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other organizations are working to study tiny particles and gases in the air over the southeastern United States.
Help wanted: Public needed to uncover clues in natural history collections
Through Calbug, any volunteer with Internet access can help read and transcribe hand-written field notes accompanying a million insect specimens, many dating back more than 100 years.
The impacts of food production on biodiversity
Matthew Luskin and other Potts' lab students are working on quantifying the biodiversity impacts of producing that food through the Conservation of Biodiversity (CBioD) project.
Palm plantations and tropical deforestation
ESPM graduate student Matthew Luskin studies wildlife conservation in the forests remaining within oil palm plantation landscapes.
Professor Claire Kremen featured in NPR and LA Times
A recent study in Science magazine co-authored by Claire Kremen, highlights the importance of wild insects and bees in pollination and agriculture.
