Rangelands

Research molecular biologist Michelle Heck of the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) in Ithaca, N.Y.

If you missed the Managing Weeds in Grasslands and Rangelands 2021 online event (Oct. 19, 2021 9 AM-12 noon PST), you're in luck. We have the recordings of each presentation here.

"Guess who's back?" butterfly guru Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, asked in his "posse" email today. "Guess, who's back?" has nothing to do with the catchphrases uttered by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jack Nicholson.

I feel like I've said this every year for the last decade, but what a strange weather year we're having! Here in Auburn, we experienced the most intense rainfall in October that I can remember (with more than 8 inches falling in a 48 hour period).

It was a whopping 100-fold increase. California's 2021 western monarch Thanksgiving count, directed by the Xerces Society of Invertebrate Conservation, recorded 250,000 overwintering monarchs, as compared to a mere 2000 in 2020.

What do you know about BosWash? It's a name coined by futurist Herman Kahn in a 1967 essay describing a theoretical United States megalopolis extending from the metropolitan area of Boston to that of Washington, D.C.," according to Wikipedia.

Spider alert! If you dislike spiders, you might want to check out the political scene (probably not!), the almond pollination season (yes, it's coming), or ask Siri "When does spring begin? (Answer: March 20) Wait, are you still there?

Research entomologist Vince D'Amico of the USDA's Forest Service Philadelphia Field Station will speak on "Monitoring and Ecological Research in the Forests of the BosWash Megalopolis" at 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, Feb.

Whitney Brim-DeForest is the UC Cooperative Extension County Director for Sutter and Yuba counties and the Rice and Wild Rice Advisor for Sutter, Yuba, Capitol Corridor MCP, Placer, and Nevada counties.

If insects could celebrate, the California dogface butterfly would be celebrating the 50th anniversary of its designation as the California State Insect. But they can't. So scientists and butterfly enthusiasts will. The history is intriguing.