Eat too many brownies after dinner, and the extra calories will migrate to your middle in the form of fat. This on-board energy, though dreaded by modern humans, comes in handy during times of deprivation and sickness. Animals aren’t the only organisms that shunt their extra energy into storage caches. Plants, too, deploy a variety […]
Blog Post
The Genomics of Climate Adjustment
California’s native plants are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Hotter temperatures, shorter winters, and drier soils will become fixtures of California’s climate. And plants will struggle to weather the shift. This is not the first time California’s flora has faced environmental upheaval. The most recent retreat of the glaciers roughly 10,000 years […]
Toothy Trimmers
Strolling the sandy paths of Fort Ord Natural Reserve, on the coast of Monterey County, feels a bit like wandering through Lilliput. In place of head-high hedges and broad oak boughs grow Mother Nature’s own bonsais. Sandmat manzanita forms a leafy carpet underfoot, interspersed with California lilac the size of cantaloupe and mature oaks that […]