Plant breeders can help America re-orient our dominant system of single-crop agriculture toward a multi-crop landscape that is less costly to farmers, better for the environment, helps slow climate change and still yields a profit. But, those efforts are just one part of a complex system that also will require the buy-in of farmers themselves, supported by political will, new agricultural policies and the cooperation of scientists, seed companies, machinery and fertilizer manufacturers, insurance providers, banks and environmental groups.
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.
Perhaps trees aren’t the only green solution when it comes to cooling urban spaces and reducing energy costs. Honeysuckle, Virginia creeper, pink trumpet and other vines could be a fast-growing substitute in climate-smart cities of the future.
Researchers from UC Davis are leading a nearly $880,000 federal grant to study how vines may provide cooling and shade in Western states in less time than it takes a tree to grow tall.
Scientists have completed the sequences for the coast redwood and giant sequoia genomes. The research, officially published this week in the journal G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics,helps to better explain the genetic basis for these species’ ability to adapt to their changing environments. The research indicates that the coast redwood genome evolved from a single ancestral species.
Cameron Pittelkow is a new professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis. His expertise covers Agronomy and Agroecosystems, with a focus on sustainable crop production, management practices for high yields with low environmental footprints, and international agriculture.
Gail Taylor, professor and department chair, spoke to a packed meeting at UC Center Sacramento on “Plant Adaptation to Climate Change in California,” focusing on potential climate change impacts on agriculture. The center educates future policy-makers and leaders in the craft of politics and policy-making.
