A fire’s impact on the land doesn’t end when the smoke clears and the flames are extinguished. Fire makes lasting changes on the land—all the way down to the physical properties of the soil—that can be not only detrimental to watershed health but also dangerous for downslope communities. 2020’s unprecedented fire season is coming to […]
Restoring California’s forests to reduce wildfire risks will take time, billions of dollars and a broad commitment In The Conversation There’s been little respite for California in this record-setting wildfires season, with more hot weather forecast this week. State agencies, scientists and conservation groups increasingly agree that California needs to vastly scale up forest restoration efforts […]
From Berryessa to Klamath Mountains, High-Severity Burns Quadrupled During Warm Drought By Kat Kerlin, UC Davis High-severity wildfires in northern coastal California have been increasing by about 10 percent per decade since 1984, according to a study from the University of California, Davis, that associates climate trends with wildfire. The study, published online in Environmental Research […]
By Jaquelyn Lugg, UC Merced While forest restoration is often associated with mitigating wildfire risk and improving ecosystem health throughout the Sierra Nevada, these actions will also have a dramatic impact on water use within forests and the amount of runoff that ultimately flows downstream. Since the Sierra Nevada provides over 60% of California’s water […]
By: Jaquelyn Lugg, UC Merced After timber harvest or fuel reduction thinning operations, sediment delivery to nearby streams and waterways can increase, potentially affecting water quality, drinking water supplies, habitat and recreational opportunities. To effectively reduce these adverse effects of harvest, foresters first need to know the precise causes of sediment increases. Historically, researchers investigating […]
Over the course of the Summer 2020 CECS Internship, the science communications intern team was tasked with creating a variety of materials to share the core issues addressed by the CECS project. These included a one-pager, an infographic, a brief explainer video, which all emerged from a completed Message Box, the communications tool developed by […]
By Erica Mendoza, UC Irvine, CECS Summer 2020 Intern The Sierra Nevada’s forests play an important role in the regulation of California’s climate by absorbing and storing carbon. However, instead of capturing and storing carbon, the forests are becoming a major source through fire and forest die off. As a result, the forests are contributing […]
By Juana Navarro, UC Merced, CECS Summer 2020 Intern Who suffers the most from the catastrophic fires? Is it specific industries or individual communities? With the dramatic headlines that the 2017 fires in northern California generated, it was presumed that the famous wine industry would suffer greatly. But realistically, fewer than 20 of the 900 […]
By Eden Marish Roehr, UC Davis, CECS Summer 2020 Intern When you picture overcrowding in California, I’m guessing you might envision traffic jams, rising home prices, lengthy grocery store checkout lines — probably not the lush forests of the Sierra Nevada. But these forests are also experiencing an overcrowding problem. Since the arrival of European […]
By Nicolette Balmaceda, UC Merced, CECS Summer 2020 Intern Our forests are critical to the state of California. They provide habitats and aesthetics that help our society and economy function, the air we breathe, timber to build shelter, and more. Trees can also decrease the amount of carbon in the atmosphere by absorbing it and […]
By Adela Contreras, UC Davis, Summer 2020 CECS Intern Forest management directly ties to the future of the state and must be prioritized. The water rivers and reservoirs store allow the state to get through hot, dry summers – doing nothing threatens California, the U.S.’s largest state economy, and one of the largest in the […]
By Jaquelyn Lugg, UC Merced Forest-management actions such as mechanical thinning and prescribed burns don’t just reduce the risk of severe wildfire and promote forest health — these practices can also contribute to significant increases in downstream water availability. New research from UC Merced’s Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI) provides the tools to help estimate […]