Construction of a seasonal pond within an existing wetland area in the Younger Lagoon Natural Reserve will create potential aquatic breeding habitat for the California red-legged frog
Almost half of California is currently enduring an “exceptional” drought, the most severe category established by the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Yes, we can have clean energy and tortoises too.
A long-term study in Elkhorn Slough revealed the impact of superabundant crabs on salt marsh vegetation and the vulnerability of tidal creek banks to erosion
As cargo shipments boom, ship strikes imperil whales in California and worldwide
“I believe Jonathan Hicken’s imagination, enthusiasm, communication skills, and fundraising and business experience make him a great choice to lead the Seymour Center into the future. He will bring new energy, creativity, and leadership to this much loved center.” -Gary Griggs
While most fish need water to feed, the unique anatomy of moray eels gives snowflake morays the ability to grab and swallow prey on land. UC Santa Cruz Scientist Rita Mehta has caught the first proof of this feat on tape.
https://news.ucsc.edu/2021/06/zimmer-nsf-career-award.html
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https://news.ucsc.edu/2021/04/black-abalone.html
Federal money to restore coastal areas hit by hurricanes and other disasters doesn’t cover the loss of natural assets like coral reefs. UC Santa Cruz marine scientist Michael Beck says it’s time to change that.
Original story from LA Times.
Most of Northern California’s kelp forest ecosystem is gone, replaced by widespread ‘urchin barrens’ that may persist long into the future, according to a new study by researchers at UC Santa Cruz.
Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed Erika Zavaleta, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, to the California Fish and Game Commission.
Original story from UCSC Newscenter.
New analysis of strontium isotopes reveals how the global carbon cycle has responded to changes in climate and sea level through geologic time.
Original story from UCSC Newscenter.
While kelp forests have declined dramatically along the California coast, sea otters in Monterey Bay are maintaining patches of healthy kelp forest, according to a new study.
Original story from UCSC Newscenter.
In 2008, UC Santa Cruz researchers led a conservation effort to remove invasive rats from an island off Alaska’s Aleutian archipelago. A decade later, native island birds and the seashore ecosystem are returning to their natural balance.
“Biodiversity means more than the number of species, and when we focus on species-level extinctions we are missing part of the story,” says UC Santa Cruz professor Eric Palkovacs. “Intraspecific variation is a neglected aspect of biodiversity, but it has value for people, and we need to start recognizing that and protecting this form of biodiversity.”
Analysis of ancient DNA sequences recovered from mammoth teeth reveals previously unknown details about how mammoths evolved.
A global team of researchers has found overwhelming evidence that marine fauna and their ecosystems are negatively impacted by noise, which disrupts their behavior, physiology, and reproduction, and can even cause mortality.
Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have found that some flowers encourage bees to visit, and therefore pollinate, multiple flowers through a clever strategy of doling out pollen gradually from two different sets of anthers.
Original story from the UCSC Newscenter.
An invisible flow of groundwater seeps into the ocean along coastlines all over the world. Scientists have tended to disregard its contributions to ocean chemistry, but a new study finds groundwater discharge plays a more significant role than had been thought.
Original story from UCSC Newscenter.
Understanding the origins of life on this planet could offer hints about where to search for life elsewhere, says Natalie Batalha, an astrophysicist at the University of California, Santa Cruz. “It has very significant implications for the future of space exploration.”
Original story from Science News.
A continuous record of the past 66 million years shows natural climate variability due to changes in Earth’s orbit around the sun is much smaller than projected future warming due to greenhouse gas emissions
In a sweeping display of the power of community-based science to capture data spanning the entire West Coast of North America, a team of scientists and countless volunteers from 14 different organizations joined forces to document the northward migration of kelp forests due to warming waters.
CZU Lightning Complex update: two dolphins, five seals, and a sea lion were safely evacuated from the UC Santa Cruz Long Marine Laboratory thanks to good preparation, well-trained and cooperative animals, and generous assistance from SeaWorld San Diego and the Marine Mammal Center.
Original story from UCSC Newscenter.
Fire preparedness helped firefighters save structures from fast-moving Dolan Fire, damage to natural resources unknown.
Original story from UCSC Newscenter.
The size of salmon returning to rivers in Alaska has declined dramatically over the past 60 years because they are spending fewer years at sea, according to a new study. Salmon are critically important to both people and ecosystems in Alaska. Smaller salmon provide less food for people who depend on them, less value for commercial fishers, and less fertilizer for terrestrial ecosystems.
Whale researchers are taking advantage of changes in boat traffic in Monterey Bay during the pandemic to collect data on stress hormones in humpback whales.
Original story from UCSC Newscenter.
Air Force Veteran and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology student Nicholas Bergeron navigates field research at UCSC Fort Ord Natural Reserve in the time of COVID 19.
Original story from UCSC Newscenter.
Barry Sinervo, professor of ecology & evolutionary biology, shares how he’s juggling research, teaching, and the pandemic during these uncertain times.
$45,000 prize will support Cronin’s efforts to to reduce the mortality of manta rays and devil rays incidentally caught during tuna fishing.
Original story from UCSC Newsroom.
The Cost of Silence, a new documentary by director Mark Manning, offers a more nefarious reading of the decision to use chemical dispersants by aerial spraying and injection during the aftermath of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.
Original story from Science.
A pioneer of synthetic biology at the University of California, San Diego, Jeff Hasty has spent his 20-year career designing strategies to make genetic circuits in engineered bacteria work together. But several years ago, Hasty had to admit that even he couldn’t outfox the humble bacterium Escherichia coli.
Original story from Quanta Magazine.
Today, Congressman Jimmy Panetta announced that he introduced H.R. 5920, the bipartisan Monarch Action, Recovery, and Conservation of Habitat (MONARCH) Act.
Original story from Congressman Jimmy Panetta.
As adults, American coots have a drab color scheme, with black bodies and white bills. Their chicks, however, have an aesthetic that’s part drunk friar, part disheveled lion, and part tequila sunrise. Their faces and bald pates are bright red, while their necks are encircled in scruffy yellow-orange plumes.
Original story from The Atlantic.
The UC Santa Cruz Division of Physical & Biological Sciences has a reputation for instigating some of humanity’s most high-impact discoveries. Here are just a few of the research boundaries our scientists hurdled in 2019.
From monogamy to promiscuity, a new model explains the evolution of diverse mating systems based on the conflict between cooperative and competitive behaviors.
Original story from UCSC Newscenter.
Genomes from mountain lions, or pumas, have spawned insights into how to encourage genetic diversification within the striking feline species and boost their health and survival.
Puma concolor – also known as cougars or panthers – were once widespread but are now mainly found in low population densities throughout western North America and much of Central and South America, and many of those are at risk of extinction.
Original story from Cosmos Magazine.
We are hunting whales in Antarctica and time is running out. Unlike the harpooners of old, our goal is not to butcher them for blubber. Instead, it’s to get close enough to slap satellite-linked tracking tags on them. And rather than kill them, the point is to figure out how to make sure they survive.
Original story from Canadian Geographic.
Ocean scientist Raphael Kudela is a lead author of the IPCC Special Report on the Ocean & Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, which provides new evidence for the benefits of limiting global warming.
Great tits that live near a smelter show personality differences from those living further away.
NPR — Ecology & Environmental Biology alumna Stacy Jupiter realized how dangerous flooding was becoming in her adopted home of Fiji in 2009 when she flew back after a vacation and landed on an island in crisis. “Water was up to the roofs of the houses, and roads were cut off,” says the marine scientist, who directs the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Melanesia Program. Her research soon revealed that this uptick in floods — paired with human land mismanagement — was spreading waterborne diseases.
UCSC Newscenter — Alumna Stacy Jupiter, a marine scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society who earned her Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz in 2006, is among the 26 new MacArthur Fellows for 2019. The prestigious MacArthur fellowships, awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for “extraordinary originality and dedication,” come with a no-strings-attached award of $625,000 over five years.
NatGeo — Nearly wiped out due to hunting in the early 1900s, the species is bouncing back—and these formidable parents may help explain why.
CNN — Ocean scientist Michael Beck wrote an opinion article for CNN about the importance of coral reefs and wetlands in protecting coastlines from storms.
PhysOrg — “The concentration of mercury in the surface level of the ocean is probably three or four times higher today than it was 500 years ago,” said Dr. Carl Lamborg, an associate professor from the Department of Ocean Science at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Hakai Magazine — Can paying off Mexican fishers’ social security give them the peace of mind they need to work more sustainably?
Monterey County Weekly — Between crabs burrowing into the marshes and rising oceans, a recent study led by Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve in collaboration with NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserve System found that it is not crabs alone that are potentially causing problems for the nation’s salt marshes.
LA Times — California officials have confirmed four cases of white-nose syndrome in Northern California. The disease has killed millions of bats nationwide since it was discovered in 2006. In this file photo, an infected bat has a white fungus growing on its muzzle.
