Ecology

Natural disasters don't just happen anymore. In a new paper, UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences Prof. Mary L. Cadenasso and colleagues offer a framework for understanding the connection between natural processes and human activity and how they combine to create human-natural disasters.

For the first time, an ecologist has shown that genetic variety within one species can affect the survival of other creatures in a larger food web. The discovery has profound implications for crop production and environmental restoration, researchers say.

Valerie Eviner, professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, has been named a 2021 fellow in the North American cohort of the Earth Leadership Program. The program will provide leadership training and will enable scientists, across many disciplines, to co-design solutions with stakeholders on pressing global sustainability issues.

Michael G. Barbour, noted ecologist and professor emeritus in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis, passed away on Jan. 7 due to complications from a longstanding illness. He was 78.