Category: News

Davis, Calif., (May 26, 2017) – Experiments with tiny, shelled organisms in the ocean suggest big changes to the global carbon cycle are underway, according to a study from the University of California, Davis.

For the study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, scientists raised foraminifera — single-celled organisms about the size of a grain of sand — at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory under future, high CO2 conditions.

These tiny organisms, commonly called “forams,” are ubiquitous in marine environments and play a key role in food webs and the ocean carbon cycle.

Stressed under future conditions

After exposing them to a range of acidity levels, UC Davis scientists found that under high CO2, or more acidic, conditions, the foraminifera had trouble building their shells and making spines, an important feature of their shells.

They also showed signs of physiological stress, reducing their metabolism and slowing their respiration to undetectable levels.

This is the first study of its kind to show the combined impact of shell building, spine repair, and physiological stress in foraminifera under high CO2 conditions. The study suggests that stressed and impaired foraminifera could indicate a larger scale disruption of carbon cycling in the ocean.

As a marine calcifier, foraminifera use calcium carbonate to build their shells, a process that plays an integral part in balancing the carbon cycle.

Normally, healthy foraminifera calcify their shells and sink to the ocean floor after they die, taking the calcite with them. This moves alkalinity, which helps neutralize acidity, to the seafloor.

When foraminifera calcify less, their ability to neutralize acidity also lessens, making the deep ocean more acidic.

But what happens in the deep ocean doesn’t stay in the deep ocean.

Impacts for thousands of years

“It’s not out-of-sight, out-of-mind,” said lead author Catherine Davis, a Ph.D. student at UC Davis during the study and currently a postdoctoral associate at the University of South Carolina. “That acidified water from the deep will rise again. If we do something that acidifies the deep ocean, that affects atmospheric and ocean carbon dioxide concentrations on time scales of thousands of years.”

Davis said the geologic record shows that such imbalances have occurred in the world’s oceans before, but only during times of major change.

“This points to one of the longer time-scale effects of anthropogenic climate change that we don’t understand yet,” Davis said.

Upwelling brings ‘future conditions’ to surface

One way acidified water returns to the surface is through upwelling, when strong winds periodically push nutrient-rich water from the deep ocean up to the surface. Upwelling supports some of the planet’s most productive fisheries and ecosystems. But additional anthropogenic, or human-caused, CO2 in the system is expected to impact fisheries and coastal ecosystems.

UC Davis’ Bodega Marine Laboratory in Northern California is near one of the world’s most intense coastal upwelling areas. At times, it experiences conditions most of the ocean isn’t expected to experience for decades or hundreds of years.

“Seasonal upwelling means that we have an opportunity to study organisms in high CO2, acidic waters today — a window into how the ocean may look more often in the future,” said co-author Tessa Hill, an associate professor in earth and planetary sciences at UC Davis. “We might have expected that a species of foraminifera well-adapted to Northern California wouldn’t respond negatively to high CO2 conditions, but that expectation was wrong. This study provides insight into how an important marine calcifier may respond to future conditions, and send ripple effects through food webs and carbon cycling.”

The study’s other co-authors include Emily Rivest from UC Davis and Virginia Institute of Marine Science, UC Davis professors Brian Gaylord and Eric Sanford, and UC Davis associate research scientist Ann Russell.

The study was supported by the National Science Foundation and the Cushman Foundation Johanna M. Resig Fellowship.

Berkeley, Calif., (May 24, 2017) – In 2013, a group of graduate students in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (ESPM) at the University of California, Berkeley sought out faculty support and successfully collaborated with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) to launch the Program for Graduate Students in Extension (GSE). Participants receive up to a year of funding to conduct applied research and outreach to California communities, coordinate workshops and training events, and co-author materials with ANR academics. Over the course of the three-year pilot program, 14 students from across the College of Natural Resources at UC Berkeley have participated.

“There’s really no program quite like this, where students can gain hands-on, graduate-level training in extension and outreach,” says ESPM professor John Battles, who chaired the program’s steering committee. He adds, “We’re grateful to all the UC ANR advisors and specialists who have offered invaluable mentorship to student fellows.”

Alana Siegner (Energy and Resources Group, 2016–17 fellow) believes that to ensure the environmental sustainability of agricultural landscapes and to improve health outcomes for young people, it’s important that students understand the scientific and social causes and consequences of climate change as it plays out in the U.S. food system. During her fellowship, she adapted existing climate change curricula to fit within farm-to-school programs, integrating food- and farming-specific examples into general lessons on climate adaptation and mitigation. The lessons, designed for students in grades 8 through 10, are hands-on, interdisciplinary, and solutions oriented, unfolding in both the classroom and the school-garden environments. Siegner piloted the curricula and other professional development resources with teachers at schools in Oakland and in Washington State’s San Juan Islands.

Despite several advances in modeling techniques, climate projections are not widely used in agricultural decision-making. Kripa Akila Jagannathan (ERG, 2015–16 fellow) wanted to bridge this gap between climate science and decision-making needs by improving the understanding of what farmers consider relevant climate information. She interviewed almond growers in California about how they’d previously used climate information, what climatic variables were most relevant to them, and the content and communication methods that could make information on future climate more usable. Jagannathan’s interviews showed that almond growers have experienced changes in climate over the past few decades that have affected plant growth. She hopes that providing growers with appropriate information on past trends and future projections can help them to make decisions that are better adapted to future climate.

Stella Cousins (ESPM, 2014–15 fellow) collaborated with the Forestry Institute for Teachers, a free program that provides K–12 teachers in California with knowledge and tools for teaching their students about ecosystem science and forest resource management. In addition to presenting current research to participating educators, she shared do-it-yourself miniature microscopes that can help learners of all ages explore seeds, cells, fur, and other tiny wonders. Magnifying tree-core samples from the Sierra Nevada as an example, she demonstrated how a lesson in dendrochronology can facilitate classroom learning on the ways forests grow and are shaped by climate. Cousins says, “I hope that this project will support existing efforts to make sound and sustainable ecosystem-management choices, and also help foster lifelong curiosity in California’s youth about the natural world.”

Conservation easements are currently one of the primary channels for protecting private land. Since easements restrict development for both current and future owners, resale value is presumably diminished, and landowners are typically compensated with a one-time payment from a conservation group. Reid Johnsen (Agricultural and Resource Economics, 2016–17 fellow) wanted to explore the relationship between rancher identity, community, and potential preferences for alternative payment structures. He surveyed landowners in Marin and Sonoma counties to gauge their support for different options, including leases and annual payments for ecosystem services. He also constructed an economic model of stakeholder behavior to help assess which payment structure delivers the greatest combined welfare to landowners, conservation groups, and the public.

Luke Macaulay (ESPM, 2014–15 fellow) surveyed private landowners and land managers in California to determine how recreational hunting may influence decisions regarding land-use and conservation practices. He regularly spoke on his survey findings and ran a workshop in Montana to encourage cooperative conservation efforts between hunters and environmentalists. “The feedback from the advisors on my mentorship team was invaluable in improving the quality of my research,” he reflects. The experience also had an impact on his career: In 2016, Macaulay was hired by CNR as a Cooperative Extension specialist in rangeland planning and policy.

Sacramento, Calif., (May 23, 2017) – At the beginning of the week, some light scattered showers fell across the central/northern Sierras, northern coastal mountains, and far northern mountains. The heaviest precipitation fell along the windward slopes of the central and northern Sierras, where up to an inch of rain fell. Temperatures were cold enough in the mountains early in the week to allow for additional snow showers in the northern Sierras, at elevations above 6,000 feet. Warmer temperatures by the end of the week resulted in the most snowmelt we have seen so far this year. Snowpacks were limited to one to two feet above 7,500 feet in the southern Sierras; two to four feet above 7,000 feet in the central Sierras; and six feet above 6,000 feet in the northern Sierras/northern mountains. During the end of the week, a building upper-level ridge brought dry conditions and much hotter temperatures.

Temperature highs were in the 40s to 80s in the mountains, 70s to 80s along the coast, 70s to 90s in the valley, and 70s to 100s in the desert. The temperature lows were in the 20s to 30s in the mountains, 40s to 50s in the valley, 40s to 60s in the desert, and 50s to 60s along the coast.

Winter wheat was being green chopped for silage, with harvest nearing completion. Harvested fields were being disced and planted to silage or other forage crops. Alfalfa fields were making excellent progress; and being cut, dried, and baled. Corn continued being planted, and earlier planted fields were growing well. Corn fields were being injected with nitrogen to promote growth. Cotton was emerging and being irrigated. Rice was being planted.

Grapes and stone fruits were developing well with the favorable weather and water conditions. Some grape leaves were removed to promote air circulation and light access to developing bunches. Thinning of immature stone fruit continued. New fruit tree orchards and vineyards were irrigated. Irrigation system maintenance occurred in some orchards. Pomegranate and Olive bloom continued. Mechanical and chemical weed control continued in orchards. Cherry harvest was in full swing. Plums, apricots, early peaches, and nectarines were harvested in the San Joaquin Valley. Late Navel orange harvest was finishing up for the season. Valencia orange harvest continued. Old citrus orchards were pulled to make space for new citrus plantings.

Almond nut development was progressing well. Pistachio, walnut, and almond orchards were irrigated and fertilized. Some orchard floors were sprayed with herbicides and fungicides.

In Monterrey County, harvest of lettuce was ongoing.  Early summer vegetables continued to grow and the fields were being prepped for harvest. Early planted melons were being picked. Zucchini was being harvested. In Fresno county, early planted tomatoes had fruit. Peppers continued to be planted. Broccoli for seed was being prepared for cutting.

Foothill rangeland and valley dryland pasture forage quality remained primarily in fair to excellent condition. Drying out of grasses was noted in the foothills of the southern Sierras. Supplemental feeding of livestock was very limited due to the abundance of quality range. Sheep grazed on retired pasture and dormant alfalfa. Bees were active in melon and vegetable fields.