The Situation: Several species of brightly colored, ground dwelling bugs are familiar to California residents who observe the insects running over dry ground, feeding and migrating among urban vacant lots and weedy fields. Most familiar are those species with contrasting red and black coloration which feed upon developing or mature seeds and seed pods. The...
The Situation: The potato psyllid is a major insect pest of solanaceous crops growing in Central and North America. Potato psyllid has historically been a sporadic pest in California, generally developing damaging populations for 6 months or a year and then disappearing for 20 or 30 years. However, since the year 2000, year-round populations have...
The Situation: Phytophthora ramorum is one of several species of related fungus-like water molds (oomycetes) that are pathogenic to plants. Another member of this group, P. infestans, is notable as the cause of the potato blight epidemics in Europe in the mid-1800s. More recently, P. ramorum has emerged as a major threat to California woodlands...
The Situation: Upwards of 40% of amphibian species are in decline worldwide, owing to several factors such as habitat loss, environmental degradation, pollutants, and disease. Recently the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has emerged as a major threat to amphibians. Amphibians infected with B. dendrobatidis develop chytridiomycosis, which eventually causes death in susceptible species. The first...
