Environment & Ecology

A Time For Reflection At Terror Rift

Luyendyk, Sorlien and their collaborators have been working with seismic reflection data to construct seismic profiles and visualize faulting along the Terror Rift. 
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UCSB Researchers Find Significant Gaps in Widely Used Fisheries Datasets

Blasco’s hope is that studies like this will shine a spotlight on the work that those working with the FAO, RAM and the IUCN still have ahead of them.
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At Valentine Camp, a Plan is Hatched to Fix California’s Drought-stressed, Overstuffed Forests

In one 155-acre plot of land in Mammoth Lakes, researchers are trying to better understand how California’s overgrown forests can be rehabilitated through both selective burning and thinning.
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The Future of Forests in the Warming, Drying American West

"Physiology is very important in understanding forest mortality, but we are still missing some key mechanisms in being able to predict it at large spatial scales,” Trugman said.
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The Scientists’ Declassified Guide to Talking About Climate Change

Through these conversations you — better than any scientist — have the opportunity to find and address misinformation, misunderstanding and fear.
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In Search of Effective Conservation Strategies, Researchers Studying Amphibian Disease Look to Natural Resistance

“When management supports these natural mechanisms, it will lead to more successful management outcomes and fewer failures,” Brannelly said.
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Mosquitoes in Santa Barbara Test Positive for West Nile Virus

Carrier mosquitoes have the potential to pass the virus on to humans — but it isn’t a reason for panic.
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A Closer Look At California’s Iconic Oaks in Sedgwick Reserve

At Sedgwick, Davis and his collaborators have been studying oak regeneration on the decadal scale.
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UCSB Researchers Investigate Mortality Among Amphibians Besieged by Endemic Parasites

The researchers had earlier developed a flexible statistical model, specifically looking at patterns of aggregation in parasite abundance. These patterns informed host mortality.  
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Rivers in Madagascar Offer a Window Into the Inner Workings of Abrupt Channel Shifts

Brooke and his collaborators are among the first attempting to map out where avulsions occur in order to test existing hypotheses regarding the factors and conditions leading to these events.
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Invasive Mosquito Species, Aedes aegypti, Detected in Santa Barbara County

The mosquito was first spotted at a home in Santa Barbara near the intersection of North La Cumbre Road and Foothill Road, and was later identified as Aedes aegypti.
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Over Land and Sea, UCSB Researchers Put a Number on Fast-Growing Microfiber Emissions

The amount of microfibers currently being released into the natural environment has drawn alarm from scientists, environmentalists and policymakers across the world.
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Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! How the “Ecology of Fear” Can Be Instrumental To Achieving Wildlife Conservation Goals

“Research on the ecology of fear tries to understand the role that risk perception plays in driving not just animal behavior, but broader species interactions,” Gaynor said.
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“I really do believe that we owe it to future generations to protect these areas”: UCSB Lecturer Creates Website to Spread Awareness of Public Lands

The compendium provides information about 50 public land destinations within a 300-mile radius of Santa Barbara, specifically using Campbell Hall as the epicenter.
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Building Wheat to Take the Heat

There is much interest in making wheat resilient to drought and better cope with its varietal stressors, such as heat. 
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