The goldspotted oak borer, Agrilus auroguttatus, (GSOB) is an invasive pest found currently contributing to oak mortality in San Diego County, CA. This flatheaded borer is newly introduced to California yet poses a significant risk to its oak tree population. The pest is actually naturally occurring in southeastern Arizona, and a related species can be found…
Sudden Oak Death (SOD), caused by the fungus Phytophthora ramorum was first detected in California in 1995. Since that time the disease has spread to 14 counties and killed millions of oak trees, including species such as; tanoak, coastal live oak, California black oak, shreve oak and canyon live oak. It was also found to cause twig and…
Ground and surface water lost during the extended drought in the southwest are having unexpected and unusual impacts. The 18 month-long drought in southern California has resulted in land upheaval of slightly more than half of an inch, recorded in the mountains. Apparently the estimated 63 billion gallons of water lost has had an effect on…
Bloom Blues (and greens and yellowish browns…) An algal bloom is constituted by the rapid increase of algae in an aquatic system. Although there is no hard and fast threshold level cited that determines if a bloom is present, when concentrations of an algal species reach hundred to thousands of cells per milliliter of water an…
Citrus Greening Citrus greening is a bacterial disease that threatens the entirety of the citrus industry in the U.S. and has already killed 90,000 trees in the state of Florida. The disease progresses rapidly and blocks the trees’ ability to translocate water and nutrients. One symptom of the progressive disease is the emergence of partially…
