Between 2008 and 2010, Central Valley farmers switched to conservation tillage on more than 344,000 acres used to grow row crops such as corn and wheat silage; meanwhile, in their 11th year of field research, UC scientists studying no-tillage practices achieved record yields in cotton and tomato.

Fire has always been a part of California's Sierra Nevada ecosystem, but over the past 100 years, a national fire suppression policy has disrupted the natural order.

California's numerous ports of entry and borders provide plenty of opportunities for exotic and invasive insects, weeds and plant diseases to enter the state. Some of these species are intentionally introduced, while others arrive accidentally. Once here, they can benefit from the lack of natural controls of their native environments and thrive in new plant or animal systems and management practices. Here are five significant and new arrivals to California under investigation by UC scientists.