Environment & Ecology

Living on the Margins: Shrinking Forest Footprints in the Future American West

“I guess the message would be there's actually a pretty nuanced response, potentially, to how we might see more ecosystems affected by climate change,” Professor Anna Trugman said.
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At North Campus Open Space, Years of Restoration Work Unveil a Transformed Landscape

In a landmark conservation deal with the Trust for Public Land in 2013, Ocean Meadows Golf Club was sold by its owner, Mark Green, for $7 million, with a further $10 million raised to facilitate the g...
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UCSB Earth Science Researchers Map Fossil History in Ediacaran Era

MacDonald and collaborators were able to extract accurate dates from the use of a rhenium-osmium chronometer.
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UCSB Ecologist Looks to AI To Improve Wildlife Camera Trapping

The data analyzed in this study was taken from a long-term camera trap project in Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique.
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Despite Public Outrage, Pine Mountain Remains Threatened By Logging

The project threatens 755 acres of conifer forest and chaparral on a mountain ridge in Los Padres National Forest.
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Thinking Globally and Acting Locally: Ian Shive and the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network Celebrate New Hospital

Shive is an author, photographer, filmmaker and conservationist, whose most recent works include the Discovery+ series “The Last Unknown” (2021).
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Back From the Brink: 20 Years of Snowy Plover Conservation at Coal Oil Point Reserve

A challenge since the program was established has been balancing recreational access to Sands Beach with the interests of the plovers.
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As Oceanic Oxygen Levels Drop in Warming Seas, Fish Flee to Shallower Waters, Researchers Find

Often, the major focuses of ocean climate change are bold and visible: The melting Arctic ice sheet, bleached and weakened tropical reefs and ocean acidification come to mind.  However, an equally im...
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In a Landscape of Wet-Dry Whiplash, UCSB Researcher Develops New Method to Predict Water Deficits During Growing Season

In order to avert catastrophe and mitigate the worst human impacts of drought, many researchers have devised ways to predict the effects of natural disasters.
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To the Limit: Long-Term Study Reveals How Kelp Forests Respond to Repeated Disturbances

The researchers were particularly interested in how the different layers of vegetation throughout the kelp forest would adapt to the loss of the canopy.
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With California Heating Up, UCSB Researchers Study the Future of the State’s Fires

In their most recent research, Tague and her collaborators focused on the Big Creek watershed in the southern Sierra Nevada, a region which is particularly sensitive to climate change.
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Looking Back at the Campaign to Save the West Mesa

Now, as part of Phase 2, fundraising is being done to create an endowment and restore the West Mesa.
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UC Researchers Dive Deeper Into the Nitrogen Cycle at Sedgwick Reserve

“Although it's interesting that rock is delivering nitrogen to ecosystems, at least in Sedgwick it’s not going to be a big contributor to the functioning of the system,” Chadwick said.
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With Life Cycle Assessment, Researchers Peer Into the Environmental Legacy of Products

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a way of measuring the environmental impacts in the stages of a product's life.
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Fleshing Out the Meaning of Regenerative Agriculture

While regenerative agriculture is still very much a fluid concept, its momentum is steadfast.
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