September 25, 2023 by Amanda Campos, Communications Intern Berries are loved by humans and animals alike. Conventionally, we use “berry” to describe any small, fleshy, and edible fruit. However, the botanical definition of a true berry is a fruit produced from one single flower with one ovary, typically having many seeds. So, scientifically speaking, bananas are berries, while strawberries are […]
Cattle graze in the foreground, Mesa study plot in the background on the right. Photo by Alix Soliman. July 19, 2023 By Alix Soliman, Communications & Outreach Coordinator We’re thrilled to announce that the Santa Lucia Conservancy’s eight-year study of livestock grazing as a tool for conservation in California’s coastal grasslands has been published in Applied Vegetation Science. Grasslands cover […]
July 10, 2023 By Andrew Evans, Conservation Grazing Associate This spring and summer, we’ve been seeing an abundance of diverse native wildflowers blanketing our grassy hillsides, poking up out of rocky outcrops, and brightening our lowland meadows. After a wet winter, the seeds of drought-adapted plants that have laid dormant in the soil are springing to life once again. When […]
Featured Image: The rare Pacific Grove clover (Trifolium polyodon). Photo by Alix Soliman. By Andrew Evans, Conservation Grazing Associate Clovers are the underdogs of wildflower world. Standing shorter than your hiking boots, often with small flowers, many wildflower lovers miss the stellar diversity of native clovers in California. The Preserve has 13 closely related native species, nine of which are […]