Science Institute News Recent accomplishments of CDFW's scientific community Restoring Habitat at Southern California’s Salton Sea January 12, 2021 in Science Spotlight Stretching between Southern California’s Imperial and Coachella valleys, the Salton Sea is what one might call a landmark of untraditional beauty. At 33 miles long and 5 miles wide, it’s the state’s largest inland lake, serving a crucial role as a stopover for migratory birds using the Pacific Flyway. Tagged With: Gail Sevrens, Pacific Flyway, pupfish, Salton Sea, Salton Sea Management Program, Samantha Przeklasa, Sharon Keeney, Species Conservation Habitat New Issue of CDFW Scientific Journal Focuses on Wildfire January 5, 2021 in California Fish and Game Journal, Science Spotlight The California Fish and Wildlife Journal concludes the 2020 Special Issue installments with the winter quarter’s Special Wildland Fire Issue. With this year’s unprecedented fire season, and California’s fire-adapted natural communities taking center stage in land management discussions throughout the State and beyond, this issue is especially poignant as we reflect on this past year and contemplate the incoming new year. Tagged With: amphibian, elk, fire, forage, plants, policy, Roosevelt, vegetation, water, wildfire, wildlife Spotlight: Kokanee Salmon Egg Collection from Stampede Reservoir December 14, 2020 in Science Spotlight In spite of challenges presented by wildfires, forest closures, unhealthy air quality and the COVID-19 pandemic, CDFW staff from the American River Trout Hatchery and Fisheries Branch nonetheless conducted four successful kokanee salmon egg collections on the Little Truckee River this fall. Tagged With: Jason Julienne, Kokanee salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), Kokanee Salmon Egg Collection, landlocked version of Sockeye salmon, Stampede Reservoir’s kokanee salmon New Issue of CDFW’s Scientific Journal Reviews Environmental Impacts of Cannabis Cultivation November 4, 2020 in Science Spotlight The fall 2020 issue of California Fish and Wildlife (PDF), CDFW’s quarterly scientific journal, features a series of scientific articles on the environmental impacts associated with legal and unpermitted commercial cannabis cultivation. Once primarily hidden deep in the forests of the Emerald Triangle, cannabis cultivation activities are now occurring all over California. Tagged With: . Elijah Portugal, cannabis cultivation, Jason Hwan, scientific journal, threatened and endangered species, watershed Endangered Fish Get a Lift to Safety After Wildfires October 22, 2020 in Science Spotlight Of the many large wildfires that destroyed millions of acres around California during the 2020, one blaze in particular threatened to wipe out years of fishery conservation efforts. The Lake Fire in Los Angeles County burned more 31 thousand acres and it illustrated – for the second time in four years – what lengths dedicated biologists will go to in order to preserve California’s Unarmored Three Spine Stickleback (UTS). The UTS, Gasterosteus aculeatus williamsoni, is a state and federally listed endangered species and a State of California Fully Protected Species. Tagged With: Austin Sturkie, Jennifer Pareti, John O’Brien, Karen Boortz, Marissa Groenof, Matt Lucero, Mike Stephens, Russell Barabe, Thompson Banez, Unarmored Three Spine Stickleback The Value of California’s Market Squid October 15, 2020 in Science Spotlight Arriving on the heels of the farm to fork movement, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted supply chains and altered product demand, which has inspired businesses to restructure and Californians to pay particular attention to where their food comes from. Many understand that almonds, artichokes or lettuce are grown in their own backyard, mostly in the Central or Salinas Valleys. But when residents are asked about wild-caught food sources coming from the ocean, tuna, salmon or perhaps rockfish might immediately come to mind. While those are indeed popular fisheries, the largest of California’s commercial fisheries actually target invertebrates, not fish! Tagged With: altered product demand, calamari, California’s largest marine commercial fisheries, cost-effective management, disrupted supply chains, farm to fork, Market squid, purse seine, sustainable fishery The Wildlife Disaster Network is Created to Meet a Burning Need October 5, 2020 in Science Spotlight In early December 2017, wildlife veterinarians from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and CDFW teamed up to try to save the life of a black bear that sustained third-degree burns in Southern California’s Thomas Fire. The innovative treatment involved the use of tilapia skins as natural bandages for the bear’s paw pads while she recovered from her injuries at CDFW’s Wildlife Investigations Laboratory (WIL) in Rancho Cordova. Tagged With: Bear Fire, Bobcat Fire, burn protocol, Carr Fire, CDFW’s Wildlife Investigations Laboratory, Dr. Deana Clifford, Dr. Jamie Peyton, Thomas Fire, tilapia skins, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Wildlife Disaster Network, Zogg Fire Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve and Back Bay September 22, 2020 in Science Spotlight When you learn there’s a popular piece of property on the Southern California coast taking up more than 750 acres, you wouldn’t be faulted for imagining a marina, a golf course, a resort – or all three. Tagged With: Adaptation Project, Back Bay Science Center, Belding’s savannah sparrow, Big Canyon Restoration, cactus wren, California gnatcatcher, Dr. Amanda Swanson, Least bell’s vireo, Ridgway’s rail, Robin Madrid, salt marsh bird’s beak, Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve California Fish and Wildlife Journal, Vol. 106, Issue 3 September 18, 2020 in Science Spotlight The summer 2020 issue of the California Fish and Wildlife Journal is now online! This issue contains a number of excellent articles, including a couple on taxonomic groups that are often under-represented in the Journal — invertebrates and raptors. Tagged With: Cascades frogs, Dr. David Boughton, Dr. Stephen Goldberg, Dr. Vernon C. Bleich, Fish and Wildlife Journal, striped bass, Woodhouse’s toad Mapping Wildlife Habitat with VegCAMP August 28, 2020 in Science Spotlight California is home to more than one thousand animal species – a diversity that would be impossible to support without the rich habitats in which they live, and specifically, the wide variety of plant species (more than 6,500) that provide sustenance and shelter. Tagged With: Betsy Bultema, Diana Hickson, Jaime Ratchford, plant assemblages, Rachelle Boul, Rosie Yacoub, salt marsh harvest mouse, VegCAMP, Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program 123Next
Subscribe to receive Science Institute news by email. Email Subscribe Recent Posts Restoring Habitat at Southern California’s Salton SeaJanuary 6, 2021New Issue of CDFW Scientific Journal Focuses on WildfireJanuary 4, 2021Spotlight: Kokanee Salmon Egg Collection from Stampede ReservoirDecember 14, 2020New Issue of CDFW’s Scientific Journal Reviews Environmental Impacts of Cannabis CultivationOctober 30, 2020Endangered Fish Get a Lift to Safety After WildfiresOctober 21, 2020Read More Archives 2021January (2) 2020January (1) February (1) March (2) April (1) May (3) June (3) July (4) August (3) September (2) October (3) November (1) December (1) 2019January (2) February (3) March (4) April (4) May (2) June (2) July (2) August (1) September (1) October (1) December (1) 2018January (5) February (4) March (3) April (5) May (4) June (2) July (5) August (3) September (4) October (4) November (1) December (2) 2017February (2) March (3) April (4) May (5) June (3) July (3) August (5) September (4) October (4) November (4) December (3) Mammals Birds Reptiles and Amphibians Fish Invertebrates Plants Ecosystems Pollution and Water Quality Climate and Renewable Energy