Q: Over the holidays, I was reading about the insect apocalypse. I've decided to include planting an oak tree in my New Year’s resolution list. I read that oak trees provide the most habitat for insects.
The valley oak, a tree species native to California, is at the root of a new means of determining an organism’s genetic fitness in the face of climate change.
A UCLA-led study found that under current global warming conditions, trees such as valley oaks are unable to thrive, adapt and proliferate as before. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America in November.
The Goldspotted Oak Borer, or GSOB, is an invasive beetle that is killing native oaks in several areas of Southern California.
https://www.ocregister.com/2020/01/13/what-is-killing-the-native-oaks-of-southern-california/amp/
California’s native oaks have always evoked the feeling of “home” for me, even though I spent my first quarter-century well east of the Sierra Nevada. From afar, I appreciate the muscular, sculptural beauty of coast live oaks. Up close, I love the multitude of birds and other critters that are drawn to the trees.
