Monday, Aug. 16, 10 a.m.
Session: T1 & T2 -- Restoring the Bay and Delta
Session title: "Bay Delta Program: The Most Comprehensive Ecosystem"
Summary: The California-Federal Bay-Delta Program is a 5-year-old cooperative
effort by state and federal agencies to develop a long-term, comprehensive plan
that will restore ecological health and improve water management for the San
Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin river delta. Technical Session One
will be devoted to political issues related to the program. It will include Tom
Graff of the Environmental Defense Fund discussing the trade offs that must be
made between water users and the environmental communities to restore ecological
balance to the Bay and Delta. Brenda Jahns Southwick of the California Farm
Bureau Federation will discuss concerns that the program provide some regulatory
relief to farmers, assure a reliable water supply and protect the economic
viability of California agriculture. During Session Two, speakers will address
scientific and technical issues related to restoring, monitoring and managing
the Bay-Delta ecosystem.
Session: T11 -- Eradicating Invading Species
Paper: "Eradication Criteria: Insights from Medfly Programs in California"
Summary: Jim Carey, a UC Davis insect demographer and Mediterranean fruit fly
expert, will discuss the differences between eradicating and controlling
invading exotic pests. The economic advantage of eradication over control is
the essential difference between the two approaches, says Carey. Using
California's medfly eradication program as an example, Carey will outline six
preconditions for launching an eradication campaign and will talk about the
related biological and political problems.
Session: T15 -- Environmental Costs of Highways
Paper: "The Ecosystem Impacts of Highway Corridors"
Summary: Bonnie Harper-Lore of the Federal Highway Administration in the U.S.
Department of Transportation will discuss the environmental impacts of building
and maintaining the nation's highway corridors. While highways support
mobility, commerce and national safety, they also have profound effects on both
the human and natural environment. In the long run, highways fragment habitats
and migration routes, disperse pest species and reduce biodiversity. In the
short term, highway construction and maintenance increase sedimentation, spread
of weeds, soil compaction and destruction of vegetation. Harper-Lore will
explain what the Department of Transportation is doing to avoid or minimize
these impacts.
Monday, Aug. 16, 1:15 p.m.
Session: T14 -- MTBE Reality Check
Paper: "MTBE Threats to Groundwater Quality: Real or Imagined?"
Summary: Graham Fogg, a UC Davis hydrologist, will discuss statewide data
related to groundwater contamination by the possibly carcinogenic gasoline
additive known as MTBE. Fogg notes that, as of last September, MTBE had been
found at levels ranging from 0.5 to 20 mg per liter at 55 percent of
California's leaking underground fuel sites. At that time, 35 of nearly 3,000
public drinking water wells already had detectable levels of MTBE, even though
MTBE was introduced into the environment relatively recently. Technical models
suggest that MTBE tends to move more quickly underground than do other types of
chemical contaminants from gasoline.
Tuesday, Aug. 17, 10 a.m.
Session: T10 -- Health Risks of Manure
Paper: "Infectious Disease Hazards to Human Population"
Summary: Dean Cliver, a food-safety expert from the UC Davis School of
Veterinary Medicine, will discuss the health threats posed by the use of animal
manure as fertilizer in vegetable crop production. Animal manure can be the
host for such disease-causing agents as the potentially fatal E. coli 0157:H7,
Salmonella and Cryptosporidium parvum. People working in vegetable-growing
fields where manure is applied are at increased risk for contracting diseases
that can be passed from animals to humans. Cliver will explain various
treatments and storage methods for manure, some of which can eliminate the
threat of microbial infection.
Session: T10 -- Dust in the Wind
Paper: "PM10 and the Agricultural Ecosystem"
Summary: Robert Flocchini, a UC Davis authority on air pollution, will discuss
airborne soil dust, known as "PM10" because the particles are less than 10
microns in size. These tiny dust particles, which often make up most of the
particulate matter transported in the air, frequently are produced by rural
activities such a agriculture, wind erosion, traffic on unpaved roads and
construction. Flocchini will report recent research results measuring dust
emitted by harvesting of almonds, walnuts, cotton and figs in California's San
Joaquin Valley.
Session: T36 -- Fertile and Fallow
Paper: "Fallow Land Patches and Ecosystem Health in an Agro-Ecosystem"
Summary: John Hopkins of the UC Center for Water and Wildland Resources at UC
Davis will discuss the constraints and possibilities for developing a network of
natural wildlife habitats from fallow agricultural land. Current challenges
include inadequate economic incentive for habitat restoration, diverse farming
practices, farmers' concerns over government regulation and lack of information
about existing conservation programs. Hopkins advocates changes in conservation
policies, financing and implementation activities.
Session: T36 -- Make Room for Bugs
Paper: "Installation of 'Insectary' Hedgerows on Farms: Management Practices
and Costs"
Summary: Mary Kimball of the Yolo County Resource Conservation District and
Rachael Long, a UC Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor for Yolo County, will
discuss how to establish hedgerows of vegetation on farms to serve as habitats
for insects. They will report results from a 1996 study of four types of these
insectary hedgerows planted on a large-scale rotational field-crop farm in Yolo
County. The study resulted in the first model guidelines for installing and
maintaining hedgerows on California farms. Although hedgerows require a
significant amount of time and money to establish, they have numerous long-term
benefits such as providing habitat for beneficial insects and wildlife,
increasing biodiversity, reducing pesticide use, buffering dust and chemicals,
and controlling weeds, erosion and nutrient loss.
Tuesday, Aug. 17, 1:15 p.m.
Session: T8 -- Migratory Birds of the Colorado River
Paper: "A Regional Perspective for Migratory Wildlife Resources of the Colorado
River Delta Region"
Summary: Early explorers described the Colorado River Delta as being one of the
most biologically diverse regions in the Southwest United States. But today,
the area is perhaps one of North America's most ecologically degraded
ecosystems, according to Dan Anderson, a UC Davis authority on the ecology of
marine birds. Anderson will talk about the Colorado River Delta region as a
prime example of the need to approach environmental issues from a regionwide,
large-scale perspective. This is particularly important for migratory birds and
other very mobile species that need adequate breeding areas, migratory corridors
or stopovers and wintering habitats. In the case of the Colorado delta system,
cross-border solutions must be developed with the support of Canada, the United
States and Mexico.
Session: T23 -- Health and Climate Change
Paper: "Integrated Research on Health Effects of Global Climate Change"
Summary: J.A. Patz of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health
will discuss human health risks related to global climate change. As the
world's climate changes, temperature and rainfall are expected to fluctuate, in
many cases encouraging the growth of insects, microbes and mammals that can
transmit diseases to humans. His talk will cover heat-related deaths,
hantavirus, malaria, dengue fever, cholera and cryptosporidiosis. Patz also
will present a 50-year historical study correlating water-borne disease
outbreaks in the United States with local rainfall levels.
Session: T31 -- Salmon Habitat Indicators
Paper: "Development of Regional Indicators of Salmon Habitat in the Pacific
Northwest"
Summary: Paul Burnet of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality will
discuss how official indicators of the health of salmon habitats in the Pacific
Northwest were developed through the collaboration of both scientists and
policy-makers from Canada and the United States. The group developed more than
a dozen indicators of habitat health that address water quality and quantity,
land use and cover, and stream habitat. The indicators will help government
agencies monitor the salmon habitat and make appropriate regulatory decisions.
Wednesday, Aug 18, 10 a.m.
Session: T19 -- Climate Change and Birds
Paper: "Climate Change, Birds and Ecosystems -- Why Should We Care?"
Summary: Jeff Price of the American Bird Conservancy will discuss how the
projected 1-degree to 3.5-degree increase in global temperature predicted for
the next century will likely affect bird populations in North America. He
projects that most North American species will undergo some shift in their
ranges, which would likely have major impacts on forest health. For example,
the loss of insect-eating birds that feed on spruce budworms could make the
trees vulnerable to increasingly frequent and severe outbreaks of the worm.
Price also will discuss how potential changes in bird distribution could affect
local economies through forestry and tourism.
Session: T19 -- Climate and Life
Paper: "Can Ecosystems Adapt to 21st Century Climate?"
Summary: Stephen Schneider of Stanford University will discuss how
human-induced climate changes are likely to affect biological communities during
the next century. Schneider describes the interaction between climate and the
environment as one of "co-evolution" with climate determining ecological niches
and life, in turn, modifying climate. He projects that fragmentation of
habitats, combined with rapid climate changes, could lead to significant
disruption of biological communities, with implications for human welfare. He
will present the conclusions from several studies on the impact of human
disturbances on nature and society. He also will talk about the cost of
mitigating such human disturbances.
Session: T29 -- Clear Lake Challenges
Paper: "Managing a Multiply-Stressed Ecosystem at Clear Lake, California: A
Holistic Ecosystem Approach"
Summary: UC Davis ecologist Thomas Suchanek, director of the Clear Lake
Environmental Research Center, will discuss the challenges involved in managing
an ecosystem that, like Clear Lake, is subjected to numerous ecological
stresses. Clear Lake is ancient, shallow and highly productive, with habitats
for migrating waterfowl and fish-eating birds and mammals. Additionally, it
offers local residents recreation, a water supply and both sport and commercial
fisheries. But it has endured many human-caused environmental stresses,
including the loss of 85 percent of its wetlands, contamination by mercury and
pesticides, and replacement of 65 percent of its native fish by non-native
species. And it is the location of a federal hazardous-waste site. The
troubled ecosystem provides an excellent laboratory for scientists to study the
effects of multiple ecological stresses and their management.
Session: T38 -- Grazing Ecology
Paper: "California Grazing Lands: Whither They Go?"
Summary: Farmer and rancher Albert Medvitz of Rio Vista, Calif., will discuss
trends in population growth, land use and agricultural change related to
California livestock production. The ecological characteristics of California's
rangeland used for grazing cattle and sheep have changed over time and vary
dramatically across both climatic and geographical regions of the state.
Medvitz will discuss interactions between livestock production and habitat
maintenance, as well as the conflicts and dilemmas surrounding the continuing
production of livestock on California lands.
Wednesday, Aug. 18, 1:15 p.m.
Session: T22 -- Sea Otter Conservation
Paper: "Cooperative Research in Support of Population Recovery: The Case of
the Southern Sea Otter"
Summary: Jonna Mazet, director of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network,
headquartered at UC Davis, will discuss strategies for encouraging the
population recovery of wildlife species, using the case of the southern sea
otter as an example. Mazet, a wildlife veterinarian, is a member of the
California Sea Otter Research Group, a team of scientists from many disciplines
and various public and private groups. The team's goal is to provide the
research necessary to guide management aimed at restoring the otter's fragile
populations.
Session: T26 -- Monitoring Disease from Space
Session title: "Ecology and Infectious Diseases"
Summary: Tucker Compton of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center will chair and
speak during this session that is focused on how remote sensing technology via
satellite surveillance is used to predict and track infectious diseases around
the world. Many such diseases are directly linked to environmental changes that
can be monitored by remote sensing. Speakers from NASA, UC Davis, Oxford
University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine will discuss
remote sensing related to Rift Valley fever, malaria, dengue hemorrhagic fever
and mosquito-borne encephalitis.
Session: T30 -- Forty Years at Lake Tahoe
Paper: "Four Decades of Environmental Change in the Lake Tahoe Basin: Lessons
for Managing Ecosystem Health"
Summary: Charles Goldman, an international authority on freshwater lakes and
director of the Tahoe Research Group at UC Davis, will discuss the importance of
studying the health of the lake in the context of the entire watershed,
considering tributary streams and rivers, atmospheric impacts and groundwater
effects. Referring to records of Tahoe's clarity that date back to 1959,
Goldman will talk about the changes that have taken place in and around the
lake. He will explain how the many environmental stresses on aquatic ecosystems
worldwide call for the findings of basic lake research to be rapidly converted
into management decisions.
Session: T37 -- Sacramento River Stressors
Paper: "Multiple Stressors in the Sacramento River Watershed"
Summary: UC Davis aquatic toxicologist David Hinton discusses the many
environmental stressors affecting the Sacramento River watershed. Diverted
river flows, mining and contamination by both agricultural and urban chemical
runoff have had profound effects on the river. And there are proposals to
redirect drainage of saline waters that contain selenium into the Sacramento-San
Joaquin river delta, further impacting plants and animals in this watershed.
The interaction of these stressors, combined with invading foreign species and
export of juvenile fish into the aqueducts, has driven several fish species to
near extinction. Hinton will examine potential toxicity problems associated
with the multiple stressors in the watershed.
Media contact:
Patricia Bailey, News Service, 530-752-9843, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu
Editor's Note:
The congress, to be held in the Sacramento Convention Center,
will feature 41 technical sessions on Monday through Wednesday, Aug. 16-18.
Listed are the dates and times for the technical session in which each
highlighted paper is presented.