Environment

Staring into the depths of Lake Tahoe, you might think the view goes on forever. But researchers at the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center have been tracking precisely how far a person can see through the famed lake’s waters for nearly 60 years and sharing the results in the annual Lake Tahoe Clarity Report. 

The UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, or CA&ES, is celebrating two outstanding graduate students recognized for their research, leadership and service in advancing regenerative agriculture, wildlife ecology and conservation and environmental sustainability.

A wind-driven brush fire in Simi Valley could push east sending flames and smoke plumes into parts of Los Angeles, less than 18 months after catastrophic wildfires hit the communities of Altadena and Pacific Palisades. 

The lessons from those twin 2025 fires are still being learned as researchers from University of California, Davis, other institutions in the state and the country are working to understand the effect on air quality, human health and the environment. 

After the sun sets and darkness falls over the vineyards near Lodi, American barn owls start to glide above the grapevines in search of rodents below. As the birds hunt, researchers at the University of California, Davis, and California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, and San Luis Obispo, are paying attention to how noises echoing through the fields influence these nocturnal raptors.

Even if you haven’t heard of Botrytis cinerea, you’ve likely seen it — slowly growing in your store-bought blueberries, tomatoes or even on your beautiful orchids. Commonly known as gray mold, the fungus attacks hundreds of plants. For years, scientists have unsuccessfully tried to breed crops that could resist the fungus. New research from the University of California, Davis, suggests decades of crop breeding strategies may have overlooked a crucial piece of the puzzle: the pathogen itself.

Every dollar spent on forest fuel treatments saves about $3.75 in wildfire damages, according to a new study, led by researchers at the University of California, Davis, of nearly 300 fires in the western United States.

No matter how fast a species under threat can move, escape can only be successful if the new destination can meet its needs.

An ecological modeling study from the University of California, Davis, found that 7% to 16% of global plant species studied are expected to lose more than 90% of their range, facing high risk of extinction by 2100 under current climate change projections.

Across an expanse of open grassland in Sacramento County, an eight-foot, stream cut bank holds dozens of mud-domed bird nests, where tiny heads peeked out before a colony of cliff swallows took flight. Cliff swallows are small migratory birds that arrive in the Central Valley each spring to breed, and while they now commonly nest on bridges and freeway overpasses, finding their nests built in a natural setting is a striking and special sight, particularly in California’s Central Valley.

California has one of the highest rates of wildfire-driven deforestation in the world, and the trend has accelerated over the past three decades, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. 

California’s Bay Area may be a culinary hot spot for people, but food options for fish in the San Francisco Estuary have been limited and declining in recent decades.

A study from the University of California, Davis, shows there is a part of the estuary that is teeming with fish food — the managed wetlands of Suisun Marsh.