Nature & You Lecture Series: Yellow Star Thistle and Other Invasive Grassland Species – ONLINE

The hills of California were not always golden! Spanish colonization of California began one of the most widespread plant invasions in the world.  It occurred so fast we don’t actually know what the native plant community looked like before the Spanish. The majority of our grasslands have been dominated by introduced annual invasive grasses and forbs, such as wild oats and bromes, for hundreds of years, but now a new wave of invaders are entering – yellow star thistle, medusahead, and goatgrass, which are causing new problems. Please join UD Davis Plant Ecologist and PhD candidate, Sarah Gaffney, at 7PM on Thursday, June 24th, to learn about these two groups of invasive species and explore the differences and similarities of their ecological role in the grassland and oak savanna plant community, as well as touch on recent research on restoring native grasses to these invaded areas.

Sarah Gaffney is a Ph.D candidate in the Graduate Group in Ecology at UC Davis, in Dr. Valerie Eviner’s lab. She is largely interested in answering community ecology questions that have practical applications to restoration. Her research focuses on the relationship between invasive and native grasses in California, looking at plant-soil feedbacks and native resistance to noxious weeds.

This lecture will be ONLINE in a Zoom meeting.  You must register on this page (be sure to include your email address) and download Zoom. (There is no need to create an account.) After registering, participants will be sent an email with the meeting ID and password.  After the lecture, you will be able to ask questions via Zoom’s chat feature.

Questions? Contact Bill Grabert at bgrabert@tuleyome.org

This lecture is part of the monthly “Nature and You” lecture series sponsored by Tuleyome.  Tuleyome is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservation organization based in Woodland, California. The word “Tuleyome” (pronounced too-lee-OME-ee) is a Lake Miwok Indian word that means “deep home place”. And that term “deep home place” exemplifies our deep connection to our environment, our communities and our regional public lands.

Note: All participants agree to abide by the terms and conditions of Tuleyome’s waiver of liability which can be seen and downloaded HERE. All participants also understand that photographs will be taken at the event. If you do not wish to be photographed, you must tell the photographer and avoid the cameras’ line of sight.