Local high school teacher connects students with High Desert plant life
High Desert native, professor and high school biology teacher Audrey Longshore is on a mission to connect students with the beauty and importance of native plants of the High Desert.
Resilient landscapes: Easy and attainable this spring and beyond
Create a fire-resilient, biodiverse garden this spring! Learn how plant islands, native species, and smart landscaping choices can protect your home while supporting pollinators and wildlife.
Invasive plants make fires worse. Can they be stopped?
After the Palisades Fire sparked in the Santa Monica Mountains, invasive grasses and other plants that had dried up over the rainless winter caused the blaze to burn through the hills at an astonishing rate, reaching 11,000 acres in less than two days.
$5K UC Berkeley grant aids in blue oak restoration work
The Green Initiative Fund, or UC Berkeley’s Campus Green Fund, awarded $5,000 to the Oak Woodland Restoration Project at UC Berkeley’s Hastings Natural History Reservation, or Hastings, last fall
Where to See Wildflowers Near You in the Bay Area
California is the most biologically diverse state in the country and is home to more than 8,000 species of plants — over half of which are native to the state. Wildflowers have thrived in the Bay Area thanks to our Mediterranean climate of wet winters and dry summers.
The Salton Sea is California’s most imperiled lake. Can a new conservancy turn back the tide?
A new conservancy will oversee work to improve vegetation, water quality and natural habitat in the Salton Sea. Will nearly half a billion dollars in projects be enough?
Santa Monica Beach Dune Project Shows Promise For Coastal Resilience
Nine years ago, UC Santa Barbara researchers and collaborators faced an intriguing question: Could an urban sandy beach—typically groomed flat and stripped of vegetation—be restored with minimal intervention?
California to hold public meeting Monday on planned Joshua tree fees
In its current form, the plan requires property owners and agencies to pay mitigation fees when removing western Joshua trees or doing trenching or other work near one of the protected trees.
This small tweak to California parks could help prevent fires
Landscape architecture studio Terremoto is battling invasive species, fire threats, and underfunded parks departments with a new approach to ecological restoration.
Here’s an easy way you can help California native wildflowers thrive
A new study from researchers at UC Riverside found that raking away thatch — a tan layer of dead plant debris produced by invasive plants like grasses — can be an effective way to increase biodiversity of native plants.