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USDA California Climate Hub
The California Climate Hub is part of a unique, collaborative program across several USDA agencies tasked with the mission to develop science-based, region-specific information and technologies, and deliver these products to agricultural and natural resource managers that enable climate-informed decision-making. This mission is accomplished through close partnerships with USDA agencies including ARS, NRCS, and the Forest Service, as well as state and local entities such as resource conservation districts, university cooperative extension, and nonprofit organizations. The California Climate Hub serves as a bridging organization to facilitate communication, the co-production of knowledge, and the delivery of the best available science information, resources, tools, and products to support and improve the adaptive capacity and climate resilience of California’s working lands.
RESOURCES
California Crops Under Climate Change
This story map, written by Hub staff and reviewed by experts at the California Department of Food and Agriculture, highlights some of the myriad ways that climate change will affect California’s fruit and nut crop production and some of the potential climate-adaptive opportunities that can support California agriculture in an uncertain future.
Climate-wise Reforestation Toolkit
California is experiencing a marked increase in tree mortality due to wildfire, drought and insects; the resulting loss of forest overstory has created a need to reforest millions of acres. This toolkit consists of three resources to be used individually or together to inform land manager’s reforestation decisions. The first is a reforestation prioritization tool designed to inform where to reforest based on the level of tree mortality and other user-defined variables. The second resource is a post-drought stand condition tool designed to allow users to explore newly changed conditions on their National Forest area of interest. And finally, to help guide planting techniques, the third resource is a brief summary of best management practices. These tools can be used along with site visits, local knowledge, and individual management goals to aid project planning, and facilitate consideration of different reforestation scenarios with interested stakeholders.
Soil Health, Soil Amendments, and Carbon Farming: A Fact Sheet Series
The California Climate Hub partnered with the Working Lands Innovation Center to create a fact sheet series exploring the relationship between carbon farming, soil health, and soil amendments on California croplands and rangelands. This soil-focused fact sheet series, which is intended for members of the technical assistance community who advise California growers on climate-smart agriculture, provides an overview of carbon farming and addresses the potential benefits of compost, pulverized rock, and biochar as soil amendments.