Environment
Scientists work to save endangered vole
Drought has dried up rare marshes of the Mojave Desert, home to the Amargosa voles. The small rodents are now near extinction. But a new captive breeding program at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine may change things. Early results have been encouraging.
Water researchers share findings at Bay-Delta Science conference
Several scholars with the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences presented research at the Bay-Delta Science conference October 28-30 in Sacramento. Topics included ecosystems, fish populations and drought, and wetlands restoration in the north part of the Delta. Details in this Drought Watch Report.
Drought Journal: Hope springs eternal
How are native fish coping with the drought? That’s the question researchers with the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences are trying to answer. They spent the summer exploring streams and rivers throughout northern and central California and report their findings in this Drought Journal.
El Niño will not end drought nor ease fire risk
UC Davis wildfire and water experts don't expect El Niño to save California from the ravages of drought.
Read and listen to their comments in this Drought Watch report.
Connecting wildfires to climate change and drought
Jens Stevens, with the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences studied the practice of thinning forests and found this treatment makes a difference in the forest’s ability to withstand a burn in really hot and dry conditions. Stevens specializes in what is called disturbance ecology, under the context of climate change.
Drought partially to blame for decline in tricolored blackbird
A survey in California coordinated by UC Davis staff researcher Robert Meese found a loss of more than 255,000 birds since 2008.
The tricolored blackbird has faced breeding challenges during this time due to a variety of factors, and also has been indirectly hurt by the drought which has dried up nesting habitat in wetlands.
Is giving fish less water during drought good for water users?
"Progress in California water management and policy will require stakeholders to move beyond habitual conflicts and look toward their common long-term interests — for both water deliveries and the environment." More in the California WaterBlog produced by the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences.
UC Davis water researchers challenged by drought
Three straight years of extremely dry conditions can make a river scientist pretty thirsty for data.
Sarah Yarnell hasn’t had a drop in five months on her stream-monitoring project - in a rainforest, no less.
She’s leading a team of researchers with the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences that has been watching and waiting for sediment movement in a coastal stream in the redwoods near Fort Bragg.