California
Native Plant Society
Santa Cruz County Chapter
General Meeting
Monday November 9
7:30 pm lecture
UCSC Arboretum Horticulture Building
Program:
Adelia Barber
A Natural History of California's
Long-Lived and Long-Dead Charismatic Megaflora:
The Bristlecone Pines of the White Mountains
Adelia Barber will present her research work on the
ancient bristlecone pines, one of California's great natural treasures.
Stands of Pinus longaeva in the White Mountain Range are not
only the longest-living species on record, but deceased individuals and
relict wood can remain intact for millennia after death due to the cold
and dry high elevation environment. Adelia's research focuses on
understanding the population dynamics and life-history of this unique
species.
She has conducted surveys and experiments on seedling germination and
survival, cone production, and used tree-ring analyses to understand
when and why some trees die while others survive. For this talk, Adelia
will discuss the natural history and important life-stages of this
ancient species and provide some insights about how bristlecone pines
are responding to climate change.
Adelia Barber is a PhD candidate at the University of California at
Santa Cruz (UCSC) in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary
Biology. She grew up in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and developed an
early love for the native plants of this region. While completing a
Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from Brown
University, she worked on wildlife biology issues in Tanzania and
studied seed biology in the endangered Santa Cruz tarplant. She was
thrilled for the opportunity to return to her native Santa Cruz
Mountains for graduate school and is currently working under Professors
Daniel Doak and Ingrid Parker.
In addition to her dissertation research on bristlecone pines, she has
been involved with conservation efforts in both the Los Gatos
watershed, and the Bohemian Grove on the Russian River. Adelia is also
assisting Randy Morgan, Jim Velzy, and a host of undergraduates with
the genus Trifolium systematics project in the UCSC greenhouses.
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