Research
Palm oil expansion triggers ecological cascade
ESPM Ph.D. candidate Matthew Luskin explains in an interview the effects that palm oil expansion has on wild pigs and macaques, and how these changes can indirectly but substantially damage the environment.
Fungal Spore Bank Regenerates Forests
ESPM Graduate student Sydney Glassman discovered that a fungal spore bank under the devastating 2013 Rim Fire has helped regenerate new forests.
New research in rural China may help improve drinking water quality and reduce air pollution
Alasdair Cohen’s collaboration with the China CDC allowed him to conduct the first known research study on household water treatments in China.
Small but mighty: researchers find periodically flowing streams in California are surprisingly diverse
Postdoctoral researcher Michael Thomas Bogan, recent graduate Jason Hwan, and Professor Stephanie Carlson studied small creeks in northern California and found more diversity than they expected.
How to beat the climate crisis? Start with carrots
Professor Jonas Mekcling argues that to speed up progress in tackling climate change, policymakers need to build political support by investing in clean-energy industries rather than first penalizing polluters, according to a new policy paper by UC Berkeley researchers.
Drought may be killing California’s giant sequoias
California’s giant sequoias are showing signs of stress — some have leaves that are drier and sparser than usual — and UC Berkeley tree biologist Anthony Ambrose thinks the drought is to blame.
Clearing habitat surrounding farm fields fails to reduce pathogens
ESPM Postdoctoral Researcher Daniel Karp is lead author on a new study showing that clearing wild vegetation surrounding crops doesn't reduce field contamination.
Targeting microbes could help fight coffee pest
A microbe in the coffee berry borer's gut allows it to consume massive amounts of caffeine. Research co-authored by professor Eoin Brodie and Postdoc Javier Ceja-Navarro sheds light on the ecology of the destructive bug and could lead to new ways to fight it.
Documenting small-scale gold mining in Indonesia
Dangerous, illegal, and environmentally destructive, smallholder mining in Indonesia nevertheless offers a shot at prosperity for marginalised rural people.
Small salmon, big threat
By monitoring fish populations and environmental conditions, Professor Stephanie Carlson’s lab helps water managers and farmers make better decisions about water diversions, which could protect native fish.
Newfound groups of bacteria are mixing up the tree of life
Scientists have identified more than 35 new groups of bacteria, clarifying a mysterious branch of the tree of life that has been hazy.
Human security at risk as depletion of soil accelerates, scientists warn
Steadily and alarmingly, humans have been depleting Earth's soil resources faster than the nutrients can be replenished.
Citizen science helps predict spread of sudden oak death
Efforts to predict the emergence and spread of sudden oak death, an infectious tree-killing disease, have gotten a big boost from the work of grassroots volunteers.
Wildfires emit more greenhouse gases than assumed in state climate targets
A new study by Professor John Battles and collaborators at the National Park Service quantifies the amount of carbon stored and released through California forests and wildlands.
First Detailed Microscopy Evidence of Bacteria at the Lower Size Limit of Life
The existence of ultra-small bacteria has been debated for two decades, but there hasn’t been a comprehensive electron microscopy and DNA-based description of the microbes until now.
Chile and California: The Wine Is the Land
The similarity between vineyard landscapes in Chile and California is striking: both lie in mediterranean-climate ecosystems made up of twin vegetation types, and both produce some of the world’s best wines.
A 23-year experiment finds surprising global warming impacts already underway
At the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, the scientists have monitored ten 30-square meter plots of meadowland since 1989.
Minimizing the Spread of Disease in Italy’s Famous Olive Trees
The bacterium Xylella fastidiosa is quarantined as a harmful organism and has already caused economically significant lethal diseases of grapevine, citrus, plum, peach, almond, oak, oleander, and numerous forest tree species in the Americas.
Warmer, Drier Climate Altering Forests Statewide
Historical California vegetation data that more than once dodged the dumpster have now proved their true value, documenting that a changing forest structure seen in the Sierra Nevada has actually happened statewide over the past 90 years.
Rise in Mass Die-offs Seen Among Birds, Fish and Marine Invertebrates
An analysis of 727 mass die-offs of nearly 2,500 animal species from the past 70 years has found that such events are increasing among birds, fish and marine invertebrates.