UC Davis News: Environmental Sciences

New UC Davis Study Asks: How Green Is Our Valley?

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The population of California's Central Valley is expected to balloon from 7 million to 12 million people in the next 30 years, making it the fastest growing region anywhere in the U.S. or Mexico. Can the valley's communities be that big and green as well?

"I am actually pretty pessimistic about the possibility," says the lead author of a new UC Davis review of 100 Central Valley cities' growth policies.

"Sustainable growth is growth that minimizes environmental impact while meeting goals for economic viability and quality of life, for both present and future generations," said associate professor Mark Lubell. "Our study identified some very serious obstacles to achieving the goal, but also identifies some variables and recommendations that might help."

Lubell found that the valley's biggest cities have the greatest number of sustainable-growth policies and projects.

Fresno had the highest score on the Sustainability Index, at 33 points (out of 50). Sacramento followed with 31.5 and Davis was third, at 30. The lowest score, for the fewest policies, went to Maricopa, at 5.5.

"Bigger cities have a lot of problems, but they also have lots of policies in place," Lubell said. "That is a good example of the challenges — a community might try really hard but the policies may still fail in the end."

Fresno's high score on the Sustainability Index was due to two Fresno initiatives -- “Fresno Green,” an action-oriented plan intended to transform Fresno into a sustainable city, and the "Southeast Growth Area" (SEGA), a 14-square-mile area targeted to absorb at least 20 percent of Fresno’s growth over the next 20 years in a high-density, multi-use development incorporating "new types of open space and walkable communities."

The researchers also wrote case studies of seven Central Valley cities (Fresno, Modesto, Davis, Wheatland, Lincoln, Sacramento and Citrus Heights), which inform their advice for building sustainable communities, including:

• Stop relying on big-box stores and sprawl for city revenues -- even if it means revisiting Proposition 13. Dependence on sales tax from retail, and user fees on new development, is called "the fiscalization of land use," and it discourages policies that restrict growth or encourage high-density and in-fill development. These financial issues are particularly acute in California because of Proposition 13, passed in 1978, which reduced the availability of property taxes and caused many cities to view growth as the only way to balance budgets.

• Don't wait until too late. State policies should put a high priority on "transitioning cities" -- those that don't have a history of poor development but are now growing fast and making irrevocable decisions about their future.

• Focus city general-plan updates on sustainability from the start. The vision should encompass environmental, economic and social issues.

• Establish a city sustainability program with a dedicated budget and staff. This program should evaluate priority problems for the city and seek the most cost-effective solutions, with input from city departments, city officials and citizens.

• Keep learning. Help city staff benefit from others' experiences through conferences, training and online peer networks. Spread knowledge through community meetings. City officials should give citizens opportunities to be heard, and should respond publicly. State agencies and university research programs should help cities discover which sustainability efforts will provide the greatest return on investment.

The report, "Achieving Sustainability in California’s Central Valley," was written by researchers in the UC Davis Sustainable Transportation Center, a program of the Institute of Transportation Studies. All are members of the Department of Environmental Science and Policy: Lubell; Bret Beheim and Vicken Hillis, research assistants; and professor Susan Handy, also the center's director.

The Sustainable Transportation Center is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Transportation and Caltrans, the California Department of Transportation, through the University Transportation Centers program. Additional funding for this study came from the National Science Foundation.

The executive summary and full research report are available online at: http://pubs.its.ucdavis.edu/publication_detail.php?id=1286.

About UC Davis

For 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has 31,000 students, an annual research budget that exceeds $500 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges -- Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science -- and advanced degrees from six professional schools -- Education, Law, Management, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.

UC Davis Begins $2.8 Million in Studies of Agricultural Nitrogen's Impacts

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

UC Davis researchers will receive $2.8 million in new grants to study the use and impacts of nitrogen, a hero of the agricultural revolution that is increasingly viewed as a worrisome source of water and air pollution and potent greenhouse gases.

"This is one of the most important and least publicized environmental issues we face: Escaped nitrogen from agricultural production affects the quality of our air, water, and soil and has huge potential to contribute to climate change," said Tom Tomich, director of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis.

"Many members of the public and politicians are unaware of the scope of this challenge. And many farmers are increasingly interested in nitrogen management to cut costs."

Nitrogen is a chemical element that occurs naturally in Earth's air, water and soil. It is essential to life, and cycles through all plants, animals and people. Nitrogen-based fertilizers help California farmers produce more than 400 agricultural commodities -- vegetables, fruits, meats and dairy products worth $36 billion a year.

But excess nitrogen is emitted from soils, seeps into groundwater and runs off into surface waters. Wastes from cattle, chickens and other livestock include nitrogen. Farm machines burning oil, gasoline and diesel release nitrogen to the air.

The resulting environmental impacts include:

Trapped solar radiation in the atmosphere, contributing to the "greenhouse effect" that is changing the Earth's climate;
Decreased high-altitude ozone, which allows more solar radiation to reach Earth's surface, causing skin cancer and adding to the greenhouse effect;
Increased smog and ground-level ozone, which can cause or worsen respiratory diseases such as asthma and viral infections such as the common cold;
High concentrations of nitrates in groundwater, which can cause methemoglobinemia, or "blue baby disease," and possibly bladder and ovarian cancers; and
Nitrogen runoff in bays and coastal areas, where it makes algae numbers spike then crash, drawing oxygen from the water and leading to "dead zones" -- areas that cannot support finfish, shellfish or most other aquatic life.

Those environmental impacts are not fully documented, Tomich said.

"With this new funding, we can start to fill in those blanks, and improve management of nitrogen, carbon and water to help move agriculture toward sustainability in significant ways," he said.

Data on agricultural nitrogen pollution are limited, and some nitrogen pollution forms are difficult to monitor. Measurements can be labor-intensive and expensive and are influenced by variables such as weather conditions, irrigation timing and method, and crop-specific fertilization practices.

The new studies should improve data-collection methods, said Agricultural Sustainability Institute researcher Johan Six, a professor in the Department of Plant Sciences.

"It's urgent that we know how much nitrous oxide and other greenhouse gases are released during irrigation and fertilization of farm lands in California," Six said. "The good news is we know that it is economically feasible to reduce these emissions. The first step is quantifying the necessary reductions."

The new Agricultural Sustainability Institute grants and objectives include:

$1.5 million from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation for a statewide assessment of existing scientific evidence on nitrogen use in conventional and alternative farming systems, and relevant practices and policy options. Also: a program to improve communication about nitrogen concerns among California farmers, ranchers, extension advisors, environmental and community groups, agribusiness (including the fertilizer industry) and government agencies (including California Department of Food and Agriculture and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). This grant is to the Agricultural Sustainability Institute, in collaboration with the University of California Agricultural Issues Center, Kearney Foundation for Soil Science, and the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.
$500,000 from the California Energy Commission and $350,000 from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to Johan Six for new research on nitrous oxide emissions in various farming systems.
$300,000 from the California Air Resources Board to Will Horwath, professor in the UC Davis Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, for research on practical ways to reduce nitrous oxide emissions in California agriculture.
$150,000 from the California Department of Food and Agriculture's Fertilizer Research and Education Program to Horwath, Six and David Goorahoo, an assistant professor at the Center for Irrigation Technology at California State University, Fresno, to measure nitrous oxide emissions from cotton, corn and vegetable cropping systems.

About the Agricultural Sustainability Institute

Established in 2006 by the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the Agricultural Sustainability Institute includes the University of California's statewide Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP), the Student Farm at UC Davis, and the Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility at UC Davis, as well as programs at other campuses across California. More information: http://asi.ucdavis.edu.

About UC Davis

Informal Seed Exchange and Grain Trade Key to Transgenic Gene Flow in Mexican Maize

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The appearance of genetically modified proteins in maize seed stocks throughout Mexico paints a curious pattern that suggests why efforts to prevent the flow of transgenic plant material into that country could fail, reports a team of researchers in Mexico and at the University of California, Davis.

The researchers hope that their findings, published May 29 online in the journal Public Library of Science, will help guide development of methods and public policies for regulating the movement of genetically modified plant material into local seed stocks in centers of crop origin and diversity.

The research team, led by UC Davis agricultural economist and plant biologist George A. Dyer, used enzyme-based tests, mathematical models of crop populations, and knowledge of established seed-use patterns to analyze maize seed stocks in Mexico for the presence of proteins from genetically modified, or transgenic, maize varieties.

“We found that, nationwide, 5 percent of Mexico’s maize seed stocks contained transgenic proteins by 2002,” Dyer said. “That nationwide average included a surprising 13 percent in southeast Mexico and 3 percent in the west-central part of the country.”

Dyer noted that the possible spread of genetically modified seed and grain from the United States might explain how the transgenic plant material found its way into maize seed stocks in Mexico’s west-central region, where informal introduction and sharing of improved seed is quite common. But that route of introduction would not account for the strong presence of transgenic seed in the country’s southeast area, where use of foreign seed is fairly uncommon.

The gene flow controversy

Although there have been no authorized commercial releases of genetically modified corn or other maize species in Mexico, which is the birthplace of maize, the potential for gene flow from transgenic maize into Mexico has been controversial throughout the past decade. In 2001, a highly publicized study by UC Berkeley researchers first reported the appearance of proteins from genetically modified corn in native maize varieties in Oaxaca, Mexico. That study raised concerns that the flow of genes from the transgenic varieties threatened the genetic diversity embodied in Mexico’s native maize species. However, the study’s methods were criticized and its results questioned.

Dyer and colleagues addressed outstanding methodological issues in two previous papers in the scientific journals Proceedings of the National Academy of Science in 2008 and Molecular Ecology in 2009. The first paper discussed how farmers’ practices impact the evolution and diversity of maize in Mexico, and the second paper suggested monitoring protocols for detecting the presence of transgenes among native maize varieties.

New findings on seed use

The research team’s third article, published in the Public Library of Science, builds on the two previous papers, with special attention to how seeds are managed and shared in Mexico. In this recent study, the researchers found that:

informal seed exchange between farmers was the main source of seed dispersal across Mexico and was more important in the southeast than in the north;
seed obtained from neighboring farmers was more likely to be saved from year to year, while seed that was imported or obtained from government programs was more likely to be replaced with other seed in succeeding years; and
marked differences in the rate of spread of proteins from genetically modified maize in different areas of Mexico suggest that the transgenic material was dispersed through different routes in each region.

“Many governments in developing countries are planning to regulate the release of genetically modified crops,” Dyer said.

“In Mexico, current regulatory efforts assume that the spread of genes from genetically modified plants into native plants can be prevented or reversed by restricting commercial release of genetically modified varieties to areas of industrialized agriculture,” he said. “Our study, however, suggests that this approach might be ineffective because controlling or even tracking the flow of grain within Mexico poses such a formidable challenge.”

He noted that, in order to develop systems for protecting genetic diversity in areas where native crops originated, further research is needed to explore how genetic material flows through both formal and informal seed and grain systems.

Funding for this study was provided by UCMEXUS-CONACYT, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and various agencies in Mexico.

Collaborating with Dyer on this study were J. Edward Taylor and Paul Gepts, both of UC Davis; Elena R. Alvarez-Buylla and Alma Pineyro-Nelson of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico; J. Antonio Serratos-Hernández of Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México; Hugo R. Perales of El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Mexico; Angeles Chávez and Antonio Yúnez-Naude, both of El Colegio de México; and Noé Salinas-Arreortua of Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Iztapalapa, Mexico.

About UC Davis

For 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has 31,000 students, an annual research budget that exceeds $500 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges — Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science -- and advanced degrees from six professional schools — Education, Law, Management, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.

$1 Million Study to Look at Region's Youth

Wed, 06 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

UC Davis researchers have received $1 million from Sierra Health Foundation and The California Endowment for an ambitious two-year study that will yield recommendations for boosting the region's vitality by investing in its youth.

The "Healthy Youth, Healthy Regions" study will focus on disparities in four areas that affect the well-being of children, adolescents and young adults in the Sacramento region: education, health, employment and civic engagement.

“We are undertaking an unprecedented regional-scale analysis of youth well-being and disparities, and an unprecedented analysis of education, employment, civic engagement and health on a regional scale,” said Jonathan London, professor of human and community development and director of the UC Davis Center for Regional Change.

The center will coordinate the efforts of more than 20 UC Davis researchers in sociology, medicine, education, environmental design, human and community development, and other disciplines. The research will be guided by a 13-member advisory committee that includes Edward Augustus, executive director of the Children's Defense Fund-California; Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson; David Gordon, superintendent of the Sacramento County Office of Education; Lyn Corbet, director of the City of Sacramento's Office of Youth Development; and Claire Pomeroy, vice chancellor for human health sciences at UC Davis and dean of the School of Medicine.

The study was commissioned by Sierra Health Foundation, which contributed $700,000 in funding. The California Endowment contributed $300,000.

“With this study, we look beyond the current economic downturn to more rigorously determine where investment in the development of young people is required to ensure that the region has the human capital needed to prosper in a global economy,” said Chet Hewitt, president and CEO of Sierra Health Foundation. “We believe the region’s long-term economic, social and cultural health may well depend on the investments we make in our youth today. Sierra Health is proud to have selected the UC Davis Center for Regional Change as its partner for this important project.”

“How well the children and youth of a community are faring is a fairly accurate barometer for assessing the health of that community,” said Will Nicholas, director of research for The California Endowment. “Low-income communities tend to have much fewer of the social, economic and systems supports critical to healthy youth development than wealthier communities. Through the action research of Healthy Youth/Healthy Regions, we can form an agenda to create a more equitable distribution of those supports at both the community and regional levels.”

The UC Davis Center for Regional Change addresses the social, economic, cultural and political changes occurring in California’s Central Valley and foothills.

Sierra Health Foundation is a private philanthropy investing in and serving as a catalyst for ideas, partnerships and programs that improve health and quality of life in Northern California.

The California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation, was established in 1996 to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians.

About UC Davis

For 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has 31,000 students, an annual research budget that exceeds $500 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges — Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science — and advanced degrees from six professional schools — Education, Law, Management, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.

UC Davis Launches 'One Health' Care for Wild Mountain Gorillas and Human Neighbors

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The University of California, Davis, today launched a new "One Health" program to conserve the world's remaining 740 mountain gorillas by caring for not only the gorillas but also the people and the other animals that share their home in the forests of central Africa.

With $750,000 in funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, UC Davis will establish the Mountain Gorilla One Health Program in the School of Veterinary Medicine's Wildlife Health Center.

The new program will partner with the existing Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, begun in 1986, to continue improving gorilla health and survival by addressing human health, livestock health and agricultural issues.

"The concept of ‘One Health’ -- that human, animal and environmental health are inextricably linked and should be considered holistically -- is a core principle of the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center," said wildlife veterinarian and center assistant director Kirsten Gilardi, who will lead the Mountain Gorilla One Health Program.

“We are proud to become partners with the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, one of the few true, on-the-ground examples of One Health in action anywhere in the world."

The Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project's longtime director, veterinarian Michael Cranfield, will join the UC Davis staff while continuing to oversee the work of the project's seven veterinarians and 12 technicians and staff members in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"The collaboration with UC Davis will help improve the health and welfare of the humans and animals living around the gorillas,” Cranfield said. “This in turn acts as a buffer to help prevent disease -- the gorillas’ leading cause of death -- from entering the park and affecting gorilla families.”

UC Davis will investigate disease threats facing mountain gorillas, help expand medical care for the humans working in and around the gorilla parks, and improve the health and well being of livestock to benefit the families who depend on them for nutrition and income.

The Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project was established in 1986 by the Morris Animal Foundation at the request of primatologist Dian Fossey, who saw that the population was dwindling rapidly, in part due to sickness and injuries caused by poachers. The Morris foundation managed and funded the gorilla project for its first 20 years and has provided financial support since it became a separate 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2005.

Combined with anti-poaching patrols and habitat-protection efforts of the Rwandan, Ugandan and Congolese governments and other organizations, the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project’s medical program has helped increase the number of mountain gorillas by 17 percent in the past 10 years, making the mountain gorilla the only wild great ape whose numbers are rising, not falling.

“Over the years, several faculty members here at UC Davis have been integral to the conservation of mountain gorillas, so it feels very fitting that UC Davis form this partnership with the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project -- we couldn’t be more thrilled to further UC Davis’ legacy contributions to the conservation of this very special animal," said Bennie Osburn, dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine.

Mountain gorillas remain extremely vulnerable: They live in fragments of habitat surrounded by the densest human populations in Africa, Their forests are sometimes in war zones and are cut down for production of charcoal. And they fall victim to snares set by poachers for gorillas or other "bush-meat" animals, such as small antelope and monkeys.

Furthermore, because gorillas and humans are so closely related genetically, gorilla health is strongly influenced by the health of people working and living nearby, and even by ecotourists, who come within 20 feet of gorilla families. In particular, veterinarians worry that people could transmit illnesses, such as common colds or measles, to the gorillas.

The gorillas have an economic impact on the governments of Rwanda and Uganda and the communities that surround the parks in which the gorillas live. Gorilla ecotourism is a significant source of revenue, but the gorillas sometimes range outside park boundaries and raid farmers’ crops.

“The complexity of the issues surrounding mountain gorilla health and conservation spurred the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project to seek new ties with an academic institution that could provide expertise in human medicine, veterinary medicine and agriculture,” Gilardi said. "UC Davis was the perfect fit."

The move of the gorilla project to UC Davis had the full support and encouragement of its previous administrative home, The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.

“The Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project has truly made a difference for the gorillas and for their continued existence, while spreading important conservation messages,” said Don Hutchinson, interim president/CEO of The Maryland Zoo. “UC Davis now has the opportunity to expand the reach of MGVP and showcase the interconnectedness between animal and habitat conservation and the overall health of humans worldwide. This is a win-win situation for all involved.”

The Mountain Gorilla One Health Program will create expanded research opportunities for UC Davis veterinary, medical and graduate students both in Davis and in the gorillas’ habitat within Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The program will also allow veterinary staff and biologists from these countries to obtain advanced clinical and scientific training.

”Mountain gorillas are majestic and powerful creatures, susceptible to the same problems threatening the health of local communities and the globe,” said Wildlife Health Center director Jonna Mazet. “We are honored to contribute the university’s resources to this unique partnership aimed at saving the gorillas, their home and ourselves.”

About mountain gorillas

Except for four orphaned youngsters being prepared for release, there are no mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) living in captivity. (Gorillas commonly seen in zoos are Western lowland gorillas, Gorilla gorilla gorilla.) About 740 mountain gorillas remain in the wild, living in the Virunga Mountains where the borders of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo intersect. Because of the popularity of tourism treks to see the gorillas, and constant monitoring of 75 percent of the population by rangers and researchers, each gorilla receives on average 2,000 to 3,000 human visitors each year.

Mountain gorillas are susceptible to the "childhood" diseases of people, as well as most other infections. But they are a wild population and thus not vaccinated. If there was an outbreak of measles or influenza in the local community of people living near a gorilla park, it could spread to the gorillas. Some other serious diseases do not have vaccines and cannot be immunized against even if it were feasible.

In addition to diseases, threats to gorilla populations are habitat loss and poaching.

The Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP Inc.) monitors the health of wild mountain gorillas, treats trauma and illness, researches significant issues in gorilla health and develops protocols and partnerships to support the One Health programs in the Virungas and environs. It works in close partnership with the governments of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other gorilla conversation organizations to achieve mutual goals, and its work is shared to strengthen wildlife conservation efforts around the world. The MGVP depends upon grants and donations to conduct its operations.

About the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center

The Wildlife Health Center is a Center of Excellence within the School of Veterinary Medicine, comprised of 13 epidemiologists, disease ecologists and ecosystem health clinicians and their staff working at the cutting edge of pathogen emergence and disease-tracking in ecosystems. It benefits from the expertise of 50 other participating UC Davis faculty members from many disciplines who are involved in the discovery and synthesis of information about emerging zoonotic diseases (those transmitted between people and animals) and ecosystem health. Its mission is to balance the needs of people, wildlife and the environment through research, education and service.

About UC Davis

UC Davis Materials Engineer Named to New 'Green Ribbon' Science Panel

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

A UC Davis professor has been selected to serve on an advisory panel that will help guide the state of California toward adoption of a “green chemistry” program.

Julie Schoenung, a professor of chemical engineering and materials science, was one of 27 scientists and academicians from across the United States chosen to serve on California’s newly formed Green Ribbon Science Panel. Established in 2008 by passage of two landmark environmental bills signed into law by Gov. Schwarzenegger on Sept. 29, the panel will provide advice and act as a resource to California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control and the California Environmental Policy Council.

The department selected the 27 panel members on the basis of their education, expertise and practical experience in specific fields related to green chemistry, which is an innovative approach in dealing with chemicals before they become hazards, with an overall goal of making chemicals and products “benign by design.” Members’ qualifications derive from a range of disciplines, including engineering, materials science, chemistry, toxicology, environmental law, public health, public policy and risk analysis. All serve as volunteers.

Schoenung brings to the panel her expertise in incorporating green design principles when choosing materials that get incorporated into complex products. Her research interests also includes the synthesis of materials ranging from metals and ceramics to nanomaterials and thermal barrier coatings. In July 2008 she was appointed co-director of the new University of California Lead Campus Program on Research and Education in Green Materials. The program’s goal is to overhaul the research education of graduate students in such fields as materials science and environmental toxicology in order to create approaches that will help move society toward replacing toxic materials with green materials.

Duties of the Green Ribbon Science Panel include:

Advising the Department of Toxic Substances Control on scientific and technical matters in support of significantly reducing adverse impacts on health and the environment of chemicals used in commerce, and to help determine the societal costs of those adverse impacts.
Advising the department on the development of green chemistry and chemicals policy recommendations and implementation strategies, and ensuring that the recommendations are based on a strong scientific foundation.
Providing the department with a prioritized list of the chemicals for which hazard data should be collected.

For more information about the initiative and a complete list of Green Ribbon Science Panel members, see http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/.

Mountain Lion! Stand or Run?

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

A new UC Davis study of 110 years of mountain-lion attacks on people suggests the conventional wisdom of standing your ground may not always be the right course.

"Even though we found evidence that pumas will indeed chase, and capture, people who run, we also found that people who stand still are possibly more endangered," said the study's lead author, psychology professor Richard Coss, an expert on the evolution of predator-prey relationships.

"Immobility may be interpreted by the mountain lion as a sign that you are vulnerable prey, either because you are unaware of its presence, or because you are disabled and not capable of escaping."

Thus, running might be the smartest move, Coss concluded, if you are in a situation that allows you to run in a surefooted fashion with even strides -- for instance, on dry, flat ground rather than uneven, rocky terrain or deep snow.

Most state and federal wildlife agencies advise against running. The California Department of Fish and Game says on its Web site, in part: "Do not run from a lion. Running may stimulate a mountain lion's instinct to chase. Instead, stand and face the animal."

Coss said the new study reviewed personal accounts, news reports and wildlife agency reports of attacks by pumas on 185 people in the U.S. and Canada from 1890 to 2000. His goal was to identify what kinds of activities people were doing during a mountain-lion attack and determine whether these activities predicted the severity of their injuries.

"An understanding of how large cats select humans as prey and the situations that promote the greatest likelihood of attack is an important component of wildlife management," he wrote.

Coss' co-authors are E. Lee Fitzhugh, a University of California Cooperative Extension specialist; Sabine Schmid-Holmes, a UC Davis postdoctoral researcher; Marc Kenyon, a UC Davis undergraduate researcher; and Kathy Etling, a wildlife specialist and author of the 2004 book "Cougar Attacks: Encounters of the Worst Kind."

The study, "The Effects of Human Age, Group Composition, and Behavior on the Likelihood of Being Injured by Attacking Pumas," is published in the current issue (volume 22, issue 1) of the quarterly journal Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of the Interactions of People & Animals.

Valley Fox Studies Growing; Public's Help Needed Again

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Thanks to 350 people who reported native red fox sightings in the past two years, UC Davis researchers have studied 26 Central Valley dens, identified more than 100 individual foxes, and are expanding their technology to include remote camera surveys, hair snares, and radiotelemetry.

"One female fox genetically typed at a den in Dixon in 2007 ended up the mother to a litter of three pups in Davis in 2008," said the study's lead researcher, Ben Sacks, a UC Davis expert in canine genetics.

The team is asking again for reports of red foxes, living or dead, in the Sacramento Valley and in the high elevations of the Sierra Nevada and Cascades mountains (http://foxsurvey.ucdavis.edu).

Sacks said that contrary to onetime scientific opinion, red foxes living in the Sacramento Valley are not an artificially introduced species that threaten local ecosystems. Instead, they are natives, and close cousins to the native Sierra Nevada red fox.

(In other low-elevation parts of the state, such as the San Joaquin Valley and coastal areas, red foxes are indeed non-native, invasive and threaten several sensitive bird species.)

Sacks is an assistant adjunct professor in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. He also is an assistant professor of biology at Sacramento State University. Sacks' collaborator is Heiko Wittmer, a UC Davis population ecologist and an assistant adjunct professor of wildlife, fish and conservation biology. Also on the team: a UC Davis postdoctoral researcher, Mark Statham, and several graduate and undergraduate students at Sacramento State and American River College.

Their study is funded with $342,000 from the California Department of Fish and Game.

Foolproof, Low-thirst Plants for California Gardens

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Coming soon to a nursery near you: One hundred landscape plants, all field-tested and shown to be ideal for your water-thrifty home garden. The plants are reliable, easy to grow and have few or no problems with pests or diseases. They also possess standout qualities such as color, fragrance or seasonal good looks.

Called the "Arboretum All-Stars," the plants were developed in the past several years by experts at the UC Davis Arboretum and now are being mass-produced for widespread sales.

The arboretum is a 100-acre public teaching garden on the Davis campus that promotes sustainable gardening practices and environmentally friendly garden plants. Many of these plants are California natives, providing food and habitat for wildlife and beneficial insects.

In order to receive the Arboretum All-Star designation, plants must have been grown and tested in the arboretum’s gardens. The majority of these select plants thrive in the arboretum with infrequent, deep irrigation — only once every two weeks during the dry season.

A list of retail nurseries currently selling Arboretum All-Stars in the Bay Area, Sacramento region and Davis is available online at: http://arboretum.ucdavis.edu/arboretum_all_stars.aspx.

Eventually, nurseries throughout California are expected to be offering All-Stars, and the names of those retailers will be added to the online listing as they become available. The arboretum Web site also includes a searchable All-Stars database with photos, descriptions, and information on how to grow these plants.

Conference: California, the University and the Environment

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

This May 7-8 conference will examine the many ways that the University of California system has enriched environmental understanding through the arts, literature, social sciences and law over the past century. It is free and open to the public.

The conference will also include "25 Stories From the Central Valley," a campus-community project using photos, theater, stories and sound to paint a vivid picture of the environmental problems faced by Central Valley communities as told by women leading the movement struggling to solve them.

"California, the University and the Environment" runs from 1:30 p.m. Thursday, May 7, until 8 p.m. Friday, May 8, at the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center on the UC Davis campus. It is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is encouraged.

Davis-based science-fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson and tomato-harvester historian Emmett Fiske will be among the speakers. The conference is sponsored by the Humanities Institute, the John Muir Institute of the Environment and the Air Quality Research Center, all at UC Davis, and faculty partners from UC Merced, with a grant from the UC Office of the President.

UC Davis Experts: Drought and Water Supply

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Saying California's drought is a crisis as serious as any earthquake or wildfire, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency. These UC Davis faculty and staff members have expertise on topics related to water economics policy and supplies at home, on farms and in the natural environment.

WATER SUPPLY, DEMAND AND ECONOMICS

Water Supply and Demand Management -- Engineering professor Jay Lund specializes in the management of water systems, from California's large statewide system to local city and regional water systems. He and his colleagues have developed computer models of how California's water system can adapt to changes in climate, infrastructure, water policies and droughts. He has also studied water policy in California, particularly the roles of water markets in California's complex water system. He can explain why we have a water crisis even though it is raining. Contact: Jay Lund, Civil and Environmental Engineering, (530) 752-5671, jrlund@ucdavis.edu, http://cee.engr.ucdavis.edu/faculty/lund/.

Water Economics and Markets -- Richard Howitt, professor and chair of Agricultural and Resource Economics, recently co-authored a paper on how Central Valley agriculture would be impacted by reductions in water exports from the Delta. He serves on advisory boards for the California Department of Water Resources and the National Academy of Sciences. Contact: Richard Howitt, Agricultural and Resource Economics, (530) 752-1521, howitt@primal.ucdavis.edu.

WATER HISTORY AND POLITICS

California Water Conflict -- UC Davis sociologist John Walton can talk about the history and issues behind water as it relates to the state's growth and the social rebellions it has produced. An expert on the political economy of development, Walton can also give a detailed history of how Los Angeles secured water sources from the Owens Valley. He is the author of "Western Times and Water Wars: State, Culture and Rebellion in California" (1992). Contact: John Walton, Sociology, (831) 659-1519, jtwalton@ucdavis.edu.

History of California Water and Environment -- History professor Louis Warren can talk about 19th- and 20th-century California water history in the context of Western environmental history. He teaches about 20th-century California history: immigration, environmental issues and demographic impacts. A specialist in environmental history, Warren can talk about the state's general water background, such as the origins of the San Francisco and Los Angeles aqueducts and the draining of Tulare Lake in the San Joaquin Valley. Contact: Louis Warren, History, (530) 752-1633, lswarren@ucdavis.edu.

Klamath Basin Water Wars -- Law professor Holly Doremus has written extensively about the summer of 2001, when the federal Bureau of Reclamation outraged farmers by stopping water deliveries in the Upper Klamath Basin in southern Oregon to conserve water for endangered species. It was the first time in U.S. history that the headgates of a federal irrigation project were closed in favor of conservation. The protests, vandalism and apocalyptic rhetoric that greeted the decision are the subject of Doremus' 2008 book, "Water War in the Klamath Basin: Macho Law, Combat Biology, and Dirty Politics." Written with a professor at the Chicago-Kent College of Law, the book offers lessons for the future of water management and conservation in the arid West. Contact: Holly Doremus, School of Law, (530) 752-2879, hddoremus@ucdavis.edu.

WATER AT HOME

Water in Home Landscapes -- Dave Fujino is the executive director of the California Center for Urban Horticulture at UC Davis, which promotes the efficient use of irrigation water in home and other landscapes. The center partners with campus researchers and county-based UC Cooperative Extension advisors on studies and outreach programs that help the public, communities, water management agencies, and conservation groups. Contact: Dave Fujino, California Center for Urban Horticulture, (530) 754-7739, dwfujino@ucdavis.edu.

All-Star Plants for California -- The UC Davis Arboretum horticultural staff has identified 100 "All-Stars" -- tough, reliable plants that have been tested in the arboretum, are easy to grow, don’t need a lot of water, have few problems with pests or diseases, and have outstanding qualities in the garden. Many of them are California native plants and therefore support native birds and insects. Information on selecting proper plants for gardens is accessible through a user-friendly database http://arboretum.ucdavis.edu. Demonstration gardens containing these water-wise plants can be seen by the public at the UC Davis Arboretum, along with brightly colored signs identifying the Arboretum All-Stars, photos of the plants in bloom, lists of outstanding features and information about how to grow them. Contact: Ellen Zagory, UC Davis Arboretum, (530) 752-3145, emzagory@ucdavis.edu.

Landscape Irrigation Water Use -- Qingfu Xiao, a UC Davis research scientist, studies urban water problems. He is working on using rainwater harvesting, urban landscape design and new materials to reduce landscape irrigation water use. He is coordinating his research with the Center for Urban Forest Research, a Davis-based program of the USDA Forest Service. Contact: Qingfu Xiao, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 759-1727, qxiao@ucdavis.edu.

WATER IN AGRICULTURE

Evapotranspiration and Irrigation Scheduling -- Richard Snyder is a biometeorology specialist who estimates and measures evapotranspiration, the transport of water into the atmosphere from surfaces, including soil (soil evaporation), and from vegetation (transpiration). He was the principal investigator on the development of the California Irrigation Management Information System, helping growers to improve irrigation schedules. He also has expertise in urban watering. Contact: Richard Snyder, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-4628, rlsnyder@ucdavis.edu, http://biomet.ucdavis.edu.

Salinity and Water Quality in Irrigated Agriculture -- Steve Grattan is a plant-water relations specialist who addresses salinity and water quality issues as they affect irrigated agriculture. His research areas include salinity effects on plants at the plant and field scale, agricultural drainage water reuse and management, salinity-trace element interactions in plants, and evapotranspiration. Contact: Stephen Grattan, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-4618, srgrattan@ucdavis.edu.

Agriculture, from Tahoe to Napa -- Hydrology professor Mark Grismer has a broad range of interests, from erosion and watershed modeling in the Tahoe Basin to building wetlands for filtering winery wastewater. He also studies the vadose zone of groundwater and the water use of agricultural crops. He works on water-use efficiency of agricultural crops as well as general infiltration, seepage and groundwater contributions to crop water use. He is a registered civil engineer. Contact: Mark Grismer, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, and Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-3243, megrismer@ucdavis.edu.

Growing Fruits and Nuts with Less Water -- With most field and row crops, yield is directly related to how much water the plants consume -- if you cut water by one-quarter, then the harvest is cut by one-quarter. But this is not the case with some major fruit and nut crops in California, according to studies by David Goldhamer, a UC Cooperative Extension water management specialist. Based at the Kearney Agricultural Center in Parlier, Goldhamer has demonstrated that regulated deficit irrigation can reduce seasonal water use in navel oranges by 20 percent and actually increase crop revenue to the grower due to better fruit quality. The method also works on pistachio trees. Contact: David Goldhamer, Land, Air and Water Resources, located at Kearney Agricultural Center, (559) 646-6500, dgoldhamer@sbcglobal.net.

Irrigation Water Management and Irrigation Systems on Farms -- Blaine Hanson is a UC Cooperative Extension irrigation specialist who conducts research on crop water use of field and row crops, drip irrigation of row crops, methods of improving irrigation system performance and efficiency, and soil moisture monitoring for evaluating irrigation water management. He is involved in irrigation research on alfalfa (a crop that uses much of the water allocated to agriculture) and drip irrigation in processing tomatoes. Contact: Blaine Hanson, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-4639, brhanson@ucdavis.edu.

Reusing Waste Water for Irrigation -- Steve Kaffka is a UC Cooperative Extension specialist who studies reusing wastewater for irrigation, crop water use, environmental quality relative to crop production, and ways to improve crop production efficiency. He also addresses policy-related issues in irrigation. His work focuses on the commodity and farming systems level. Contact: Stephen Kaffka, Plant Sciences, (530) 752-8108, srkaffka@ucdavis.edu.

Water Stress and Irrigation of Fruit and Nut Trees and Vines -- Professor and pomologist Ken Shackel studies plant physiological responses to water stress in trees and vines, and has determined that the best way to understand the level of stress in plants is to directly measure it using a device known as a pressure chamber (a.k.a. "pressure bomb"). Water stress in plants can be thought of as a mirror image of high blood pressure in humans; in plants, water is pulled by suction rather than pushed by pressure. Contact: Kenneth Shackel, Plant Sciences, (530) 752-0928, kashackel@ucdavis.edu.

Grapevine Water Stress -- Mark Matthews is an environmental plant biology professor who studies how plants interact with the physical and chemical environment, particularly with respect to plant-water relations. His research lab’s long-term objective is to contribute to the improved use of limited resources (primarily water) in crop production by identifying and modifying the physiological mechanisms by which plants respond to limited resource availability. His investigations center on water transport, cell expansion and reproductive development. His field research is directed at improving the ability to identify and regulate vine water and nutrient status, allowing viticulturists to improve yield and quality. Contact: Mark Matthews, Viticulture and Enology, (530) 752-2048, mamatthews@ucdavis.edu.

Water Use in Food Processing -- Zhongli Pan is an adjunct professor in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and a research engineer at the Western Regional Research Center of the USDA Agricultural Research Service. He studies new food-processing technologies to reduce water usage in food processing. Many food-processing facilities use large amounts of water to process and cook products and to sanitize facilities. Research to reduce water usage focuses on developing infrared radiation heating technology to replace water and steam blanching and hot lye and steam peeling methods used in processing of fruits and vegetables. Contact: Zhongli Pan, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, (530) 752-4367, zlpan@ucdavis.edu.

The Future of Groundwater -- Professor of hydrogeology Graham Fogg is a groundwater expert who can comment on sustainability of groundwater quality and quantity in the context of agricultural, urban and industrial pollutant sources and climate change. His research shows that groundwater quality in many basins is on a long-term (decades to centuries) decline that will increasingly impinge on water use. Fogg's recent work on the Cosumnes River and aquifer system shows how historical groundwater development affected stream flows, and hence migration of salmon and viability of riparian habitat. Current research thrusts include the role of groundwater in hydrology of the Sierra Nevada, new methods for predicting human or ecosystem exposure to toxic compounds via groundwater transport, and new paradigms for subsurface storage of water under future climate scenarios. Contact: Graham Fogg, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-6810, gefogg@ucdavis.edu.

Groundwater Resources and Contamination -- Thomas Harter, an expert on the effects of human activities and agriculture on groundwater resources and groundwater quality, holds the Robert M. Hagan Endowed Chair in Water Management and Policy. Harter can discuss confined animal facilities (such as dairies and feed lots), groundwater contaminants (such as nitrates from fertilizer), pathogens (such as Cryptosporidium parvum, E. coli and salmonella), and emerging concerns (such as antibiotics, hormones and other pharmaceuticals). He also has expertise on salt intrusion in deep aquifers, surface water and groundwater resources management, computer modeling of groundwater basins, effects of drought on groundwater basins, and modeling of pollution. Harter is director of the UC Cooperative Extension Groundwater Hydrology Program. Contact: Thomas Harter, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-2709, thharter@ucdavis.edu.

Root-Zone Water for Sustainable Ecosystems -- Professor Jan Hopmans' expertise in soil hydrology applies to both agricultural and natural ecosystems, with a focus on monitoring and modeling of soil water availability. Much of his research applies to irrigated agriculture, including its sustainability and impacts of global warming. His laboratory is developing innovative soil-moisture sensors that can be deployed in remote locations, with experiments currently under way at high elevations in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Contact: Jan Hopmans, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-3060, jwhopmans@ucdavis.edu.

Livestock and Rangelands -- Melvin George, a UC Cooperative Extension specialist, has expertise on rangeland forage production and effects on range livestock production. He presents workshops to help California farmers and ranchers reduce vulnerability to drought. He also has expertise on range and pasture improvement, grazing management, rangeland water quality, and ecological sites. Contact: Melvin George, Plant Sciences, (530) 752-1720, mrgeorge@ucdavis.edu.

WATER IN THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

Freshwater Fish -- Professor Peter Moyle, the foremost expert on native freshwater and anadromous fishes (such as salmon) of California, can discuss their declines and the environmental causes, such as droughts, water diversions and alien species. Moyle advises state and national policymakers on the conservation of fish, amphibians and watersheds. He was a member of the blue-ribbon scientific panel that assessed the Klamath Basin situation in 2001, after federal agencies cut off irrigation water to farmers, and is a co-author of the 2008 UC Davis-Public Policy Institute of California report "Comparing Futures of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta." He has worked on fish and ecological issues in the San Francisco Estuary, the San Joaquin River and the Sierra since the 1970s. Contact: Peter Moyle, Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, (530) 752-6355, pbmoyle@ucdavis.edu.

Water for Fish and Farms -- Lisa Thompson is a UC Cooperative Extension specialist who focuses on the management of anadromous (salmon and steelhead) and inland fish populations. She has conducted studies of fish response to factors such as dam operations, irrigation diversions, water flow and temperature in the American River basin, Cow Creek (Sacramento Basin), the Shasta River (Klamath Basin), and the upper Salinas River Basin. She is currently involved in projects to predict the effects of climate change on Butte Creek spring-run chinook salmon, and to restore a naturally spawning population of Eagle Lake rainbow trout. Contact: Lisa Thompson, Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, (530) 754-5732, lcthompson@ucdavis.edu, http://www.calfish.ucdavis.edu/.

Bays, Estuaries and Floodplains -- Ted Grosholz is the Alexander and Elizabeth Swantz Specialist in Cooperative Extension. He and his students have studied the consequences of altered precipitation patterns and reduced river outflow in habitats ranging from restored river floodplains, estuaries in the San Francisco Bay-Delta region and outer coast bays. His work has addressed the consequences of changing precipitation patterns on many levels of the food web, from plants and invertebrates to shorebirds. He is author of the California Aquatic Invasive Species Management Plan and has been on several state, national and international panels addressing factors such as drought that contribute to biological invasions. Contact: Ted Grosholz, Environmental Science and Policy, (530) 752-9151, tedgrosholz@ucdavis.edu, http://www.des.ucdavis.edu/faculty/grosholz/.

Hydrodynamic Effects on Water Quality -- Researcher William Fleenor uses field data collection and computer models to examine how physical properties of water influence water quality. From water temperature of reservoir releases to water chemistry in stratified water systems, hydrodynamics play a large part in the resulting water quality. Fleenor develops models to examine hydrodynamic influences in lakes, reservoirs and estuaries. He is a co-author on the 2008 UC Davis-Public Policy Institute of California report "Comparing Futures of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta." Contact: William Fleenor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, (530) 752-5669, wefleenor@ucdavis.edu.

About UC Davis

For 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has 31,000 students, an annual research budget that exceeds $500 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges -- Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science -- and advanced degrees from five professional schools: Education, Law, Management, Medicine, and Veterinary Medicine. The UC Davis School of Medicine and UC Davis Medical Center are located on the Sacramento campus near downtown.

Sea Otters' Diet is Clue to Slow Recovery

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

UC Davis researchers trying to understand the sea otter's slow recovery in California have found an important clue: Some sea otters feed almost exclusively on animals that raise their risk of being infected with potentially deadly parasites.

Abalone is sea otters' preferred food. But in places where otters have to compete for food, they must eat a variety of prey, such as small crabs, clams, small snails or worms, and they pass those habits to their offspring.

In the new study, sea otters that ate abalone had the lowest rates of parasitic infection. In contrast, sea otters living along the coast between San Simeon and Cambria that specialized in eating marine snails had the highest rates of infections with Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that can cause brain infections.

Where they ate also made a difference. Sea otters along the developed shores of southern Monterey Bay near Fisherman’s Wharf and Cannery Row eating mostly clams had very high rates of infection with Sarcocystis neurona, another cause of fatal brain infections in sea otters. Just southwest of this area, near Point Pinos, where the shoreline is undeveloped and sea otters eat mostly abalone, the rate of infections was very low.

“Higher levels of disease may be an unfortunate consequence of adaptations sea otters have made when preferred food is not available,” said Christine Johnson, one of the study's lead authors and a veterinary epidemiologist at the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center, in the School of Veterinary Medicine.

Johnson said this study was unusual because it used an epidemiological approach typically used in human health, not wildlife, and reached across diverse disciplines and institutions.

“By closely observing sea otters for many years and collecting data on habitat use, daily movements, diet choices and parasite exposure, we showed how an individual’s actions influence its risk of disease,” she said.

The study, “Prey choice and habitat use drive sea otter pathogen exposure in a resource-limited coastal system,” was published online Jan. 21 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Johnson's co-lead author is Tim Tinker, a U.S. Geological Survey sea-otter expert based in Santa Cruz. Other authors are Patricia Conrad and Jonna Mazet, UC Davis; James Estes, UC Santa Cruz; Michelle Staedler, Monterey Bay Aquarium; and Melissa Miller and David Jessup, California Department of Fish and Game.