Plant communities

Two professors in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis have been elected in this year’s class of fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS, the world’s largest general scientific society. Part of their cohort were nine other UC Davis professors, bringing the campus-wide total of elected AAAS fellows to 11.

The association elevates members to the rank of fellow in recognition of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.

When hikers returned to UC Davis Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve in 2016, a year after the Wragg wildfire, many expected to see a devastated landscape. They did, but many were also energized about the new changes they saw. Allie Weill, then a graduate student with Professor Andrew Latimer, Plant Sciences, published a paper on this.

Sierra Nevada forests are losing plant diversity due to high-severity fires, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. These fires are turning patches of forest into shrub fields — indefinitely, in some cases.

Strip seeding California grasslands to restore native perennial grasses that have been lost by exotic species is being tried as a less-expensive restoration method to improve ecosystem services. Emilio Laca, Department of Plant Sciences, is featured in this video, along with California agency partners and grassland owners.

All week, leading to Valentine’s Day, read a “first love” nature story, by campus scientists. This story was written by Professor Andrew Latimer, Department of Plant Sciences, who studies how plants respond to change, including fire, drought and climate change.

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