University of California Press Blog

Plant Galls in Spring

Occasionally, we have the opportunity to bring you brief articles written by our authors. The following is by Ronald Russo, the author of our recent book, Field Guide to Plant Galls of California and Other Western States:

"As spring begins to unfold with buds swelling and leaves unfurling, there is a quiet awakening of tiny gall midges and gall wasps. They have spent the winter in an inactive state waiting for the right temperatures, which signals the swelling of host plant buds and leaves. Now is the beginning of yet another 'gall season' with the flush of spring galls on oaks, junipers, cottonwoods and many other native plants. Many of the spring galls will produce males and females who will lay eggs in buds and leaves by June and July, producing a second, female-only generation. The galls of this generation will catch your attention because of their bright red, pink, and orange colors, particularly on oaks and manzanitas as they reach their peak in late summer and early fall. One of the most interesting relationships in nature involves the larvae of some gall wasps stimulating the galls to release sugary compounds on the surface, called honeydew, which attracts ants, yellow jackets and bees. The presence of these pugnacious insects on the galls offers some protection to the vulnerable larvae within from parasitic and predaceous insects. Similar to flower nectar being the reward or enticement for pollination services, the availability of sugar in the late summer and fall entices bees and yellow jackets to provide protection simply by their presence. If bees, yellow jackets, and ants were not available for this mutually beneficial assistance, the rate of larval mortality would likely increase reducing the number of gall wasps that survive to carry on their species. Why is this so important? Because, the existence of these tiny gall wasps sustains countless other insects and hungry birds like vireos, kinglets, and chickadees. Without them, a small but essential web in the ecosystem of oak woodlands would collapse."

– Ronald Russo

What Your Dermatologist Never Told You

Early last week, after spending much of the past year conducting research in China and Kenya, Nina G. Jablonski landed on the pages of The New York Times Science Times. Jablonski, author of the recently published Skin: A Natural History, sat down with journalist Claudia Dreifus to discuss our largest, most visible, and arguably least appreciated organ: our skin. Even though, as Jablonski quips, “Skin has been studied to absolute death by dermatologists,” so many fascinating questions remain. Why are we so sweaty? Why does our skin come in so many different colors? And what accounts for our seemingly insatiable appetite for cosmetics, tattoos, and piercings? For answers, read the full interview and watch the bonus videos that put our trips to the tattoo parlor and beauty salon in perspective.

The Abundance of Vernal Pools

by David Lukas, co-author of Sierra Nevada Natural History

Unless you are a soil scientist how often do you think about soil? Not often I’d guess, and you’d probably never imagine that California has an official “state soil”!

In fact, soil is the basis for all life on land. Deriving from local geology and weather conditions, soils are a complex and biologically rich mix of minerals and microorganisms that uniquely reflect each particular region in the state.

Of all the soil types in California, the oldest may be the San Joaquin soils of the Central Valley – California’s official and most famous soil type. Formed on alluvial plains left as Pleistocene seas retreated from the Central Valley, San Joaquin soils have a distinctive hummocky topography and an impervious hardpan just under the surface that limits root growth and restricts the percolation of water.

The result is a perfect example of how life adapts to soil. The hummocky surface collects water in small shallow pools during winter storms and the hardpan prevents the water from dissipating until it evaporates in the summer sun, creating what are called vernal pools.

While much of the Central Valley has been overwhelmed by invasive species, the unique vernal pool environment remains not only remarkably pristine but is also home for many rare and endemic species.

With the arrival of hard rains in December, vernal pools begin to fill and come to life. Threatened California tiger salamanders (Ambystoma californense) lumber out of rodent burrows and head for the nearest pools to breed. The delta green ground beetle, first described in 1878 then rediscovered in 1974, appears during the winter around the Jepson Praire Preserve and nowhere else in the world.

And most curious of all may be the highly adapted fairy shrimp that emerge from cysts buried in the mud. Looking like the 220 million year old crabs they are related to, these seemingly prehistoric creatures are restricted to specific vernal pools. The endangered conservancy fairy shrimp (Branchinecta conservatio), for instance, is found at only eight sites in the Central Valley.

Like all fairy shrimp, the giant fairy shrimp (B. gigas) which grows up to six inches long, is able to complete its entire life cycle in the short window of time before the shallow pools dry up – a necessary trait in this distinctive habitat.

Vernal pools, however, are best know for their flamboyant wildflower displays, especially for the way in which colorful flowers form concentric rings around each pool as it dries up. Wildflower enthusiasts come from far and wide to see species like white meadowfoam (Limnanthes alba), dwarf dowingia (Dowingia pusilla), and goldfields (Lasthenia californica), whose lives like the shrimp are fleeting and ephemeral.

Even if you seldom think about soils, it is not hard to imagine the impact that plows and agriculture have on these fragile ecosystems. California’s vernal pools have nearly all been plowed under or developed, and what is left is disappearing at a rapid clip.

Read more natural history features by David Lukas.

Doping: Old News Is New Again

Lance Armstrong. Floyd Landis. Barry Bonds. Just as one doping scandal begins to cool, it seems another one emerges to inflame the headlines. And it’s not just a boys’ club: the still-bubbling story of Marion Jones’s alleged steroid use has garnered the most international attention to female athletes’ doping since the controversy over the 1976 East German Olympic team.

What is happening in the sports world that drugs are becoming so ubiquitous? Is it spectators’ demand for extreme entertainment? The pressure for athletes to prove they’re worth their extravagant salaries? Or is it that—although using testosterone as a performance enhancer has been a staple of athletic prowess for some time—doping’s constant presence is only now being brought to light because of the scientific arms race between hard-to-detect new performance enhancers and clever new ways of testing for them?

As University of California Press authors John Hoberman (Testosterone Dreams) and Christopher Thompson (Tour de France) know, steroid use in sports is actually old news. Testosterone has been synthesized in labs and touted as a miracle elixir since the 1930s, and Hoberman claims that the current doping “epidemic” has actually been spreading since the 1960s.

What does the future hold? Home runs every at-bat, or a return to more wholesome sport? That depends on the fans. Thompson points out that, in 1978, when the East German scandal was still on sports fans' minds and the Tour de France’s greatest doping drama to date was about to unfold, only 53 percent of fans said they “would cease to respect and admire a great champion convicted of doping.” One has to do only a quick scan of the public, adorned with Barry Bonds jerseys and yellow Livestrong bracelets, to guess the results of such a poll today.