Regional Spotlights

Forum DANIEL S. KARP, PATRICK BAUR, EDWARD R. ATWILL, KATHRYN DE MASTER, SASHA GENNET, ALASTAIR ILES, JOANNA L. NELSON, AMBER R. SCILIGO, AND CLAIRE KREMEN In 2006, a multistate Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to spinach grown in California’s Central Coast region caused public concerns, catalyzing far-reaching reforms in vegetable production. Industry and government pressured growers to adopt costly new measures to improve food safety, many of which targeted wildlife as a disease vector. In response, many growers fenced fields, lined field edges with wildlife traps and poison, and removed remaining adjacent habitat. Although the efficacy of these and other practices for mitigating pathogen risk have not been thoroughly evaluated, their widespread adoption has substantial consequences for rural livelihoods, biodiversity, and ecological processes. Today, as federal regulators are poised to set mandatory standards for on-farm food safety throughout the United States, major gaps persist in understanding the relationships between farming systems and food safety. Addressing food-safety knowledge gaps and developing effective farming practices are crucial for co-managing agriculture for food production, conservation, and human health. Keywords: agroecosystems, conservation, public health, Escherichia coli O157:H7, pathogen, socioecological system A n Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak in spinach in 2006 sickened hundreds and triggered systemwide reforms to the leafy greens industry (LGMA 2013). Farming practices for fresh produce in California’s Central Coast region (figure 1a), where the outbreak originated, changed markedly in response, leading to a variety of unintended social and ecological impacts. Concern that wildlife vectored the disease led to strong pressure on growers to erect fences, set out wildlife traps and poison, and remove vegetation that might harbor wildlife around their farms. Growers bore the cost not only for preventing wildlife intrusion but also for monitoring contamination, funding self-audits, maintain- ing records, hiring food-safety staff, and forfeiting suspect crops. Research to date has documented the socioecological changes generated by the food-safety reforms in the Central Coast region (Beretti and Stuart 2007, Lowell et al. 2010, Gennet et al. 2013), which can provide insight into what may happen if similar reforms are adopted on farms throughout the United States. Preventing life-threatening illness is a clear public-health priority. Our purpose in discussing the socioecological impacts of on-farm practices for food safety is to advance the conversation on the need for and opportunity to co-manage agricultural, environmental, and public-health objectives in an integrated framework. Here, we briefly discuss the development of US food-safety policy to contextualize how industry, government, and the American public responded to the 2006 E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. We then review how and why agricultural practices have changed in the Central Coast region and identify potential externalities of produce- safety reform that deserve further scrutiny. On the basis of insights gained from the Central Coast, we then illustrate more generally how foodborne outbreaks can reverber- ate through socioecological systems. Finally, we suggest a path forward to close important knowledge gaps and move toward an agricultural system that is co-managed for mul- tiple benefits, including food safety; agricultural production of fresh, nutritious food; nature conservation; and ecosystem services. Context for the response to the 2006 E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak Although 2006 marked a turning point for produce-safety reform, produce-related illnesses have been increasing for BioScience 65: 1173–1183. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com. doi:10.1093/biosci/biv152 Advance Access publication 25 November 2015 http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org December 2015 / Vol. 65 No. 12 • BioScience 1173 Downloaded from http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/ at The University of British Colombia Library on November 25, 2015 The Unintended Ecological and Social Impacts of Food Safety Regulations in California’s Central Coast Region

Agricultural nonpoint source water pollution policy: The case of California's Central Coast

Organic lettuce, Lactuca sativa L., growers on the Central Coast of California rely on conservation biological control to manage Nasonovia ribisnigri Mosley (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and other aphid pests of lettuce. In 2006, we carried out five replicated field trials to determine the importance of syrphid larvae in the suppression of N. ribisnigri and other aphids infesting organic romaine lettuce. We used Entrust, a spinosad-based insecticide approved for use on organic farms, to suppress syrphid larvae in aphid-infested romaine. Romaine treated with Entrust was unmarketable at harvest because of aphid infestation, whereas insecticide-free romaine was marketable. Syrphid larvae composed 85% or more of total predators in most trials, and they were the only predators consistently recovered from romaine that was infested with aphids early and largely aphid-free by harvest. The species mix of nonsyrphid predators varied from site to site. Applications of Entrust suppressed nonsyrphid predators in two trials, and so was an imperfect tool for selectively suppressing syrphid larvae. The relative importance of syrphid larvae and other predators in the conservation biological control of aphids in organic romaine is discussed. We conclude that syrphid larvae are primarily responsible for the suppression of aphids in organic romaine on California's Central Coast.

Community-based organizations are increasingly interested in tackling issues of regional economic development to address the inequality and resource shortfalls that plague their constituents. Some groups have conducted regional audits to understand the economic and political terrain and select entry points that will maximize their impact. This article reports on a collaborative effort between university and community partners in California's central coast that involved the development of a researchbased audit, and explains how the complex interplay of economic clusters, environmentalist traditions, and demographic changes led to an initial emphasis on housing. The authors note how the conscious power-building aspects of this approach can help with economic and community development and draw lessons for community-based regionalist efforts in other parts of the country.

The garden symphylan, Scutigerella immaculata Newport, is a serious soil pest whose root feeding affects yield and survival of several high valued crops in the California's central coast. Because organophosphate insecticides, widely used for S. immaculata control, are rigorously regulated and little is known about the efficacy of alternate insecticides, laboratory bioassays were conducted to determine insecticide efficacy through repellency and lethality. To determine indirect repellency (noncontact) of insecticides, choice assays were conducted where five S. immaculata were introduced into the arena to choose between insecticide-treated and untreated wells whereas, in direct repellency (contact) assays, three insecticide-treated 1-cm-diameter discs were pasted into the arena and the number of visits, time spent per visitation, and number of long-duration (>10 s) stays of five S. immaculata were quantified. To determine efficacy through direct mortality, number of S. immaculata died after 72 h were determined by introducing 10 S. immaculata to insecticide-treated soil assays. In indirect exposure bioassays, seven (clothianidin, oxamyl, zeta-cypermethrin, chlorpyrifos, ethoprop, azadirachtin, and a combination of beta-cyfluthrin and imidacloprid) out of 14 insecticides tested elicited repellency to S. immaculata. Of six insecticides tested in the direct exposure assays, only tolfenpyrad elicited contact repellency. In soil assays, after 72 h of introduction, bifenthrin, oxamyl, clothianidin, zeta-cypermethrin, and tolfenpyrad caused 100, 95, 80, 44, and 44% S. immaculata mortality, respectively, which was significantly greater than distilled water and four other insecticides. The implications of these results on S. immaculata management in the California's central coast are discussed.

California’s Central Coast rose to national food safety prominence following a deadly 2006 outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 that was traced to spinach grown in this intensive agricultural region. Since then, private food safety protocols and subsequent public regulations targeting farm-level practices have developed extensively, aiming to avert future foodborne illness crises. However, amidst sweeping reforms in prescribed best practices for food safety, growers were pressured to take precautionary approaches to control pathogenic contamination—suppressing wildlife near fields, removing habitat, restricting biological soil amendments (e.g., compost, manure), and most recently, chemically treating irrigation water—that may generate negative unintended consequences for environmental and social sustainability. We synthesize socio-ecological data from three qualitative, interview-based studies to examine grower perceptions and experiences of food safety reforms in California’s Central Coast region and explore the effects of food safety regulations on environmental and socio-economic sustainability. We identify three disjunctures between food safety requirements and farming realities in practice: 1) Growers perceive that some food safety practices legitimately mitigate risk, while others fail to reduce or even accentuate risk; 2) Food safety requirements can create contradictions in the co-management of food safety and environmental sustainability; and 3) Food safety requirements may foster impediments to regional food systems socioeconomic sustainability. We argue that these disjunctures warrant changes in food safety policy, implementation, and/or food safety education. We provide concrete suggestions for shifting the focus of food safety reform away from the narrow surveillance of individual grower compliance and toward an integrated perspective on regional risk, vulnerability, and resilience.

Author(s): Glynn, Victoria Marie | Abstract: The Central Coast of California has implemented bare-ground buffers to deter the presence of food-borne pathogens in produce. The destruction of natural habitats surrounding farms may place avian communities at risk. To ascertain bird health in this rapidly-changing landscape, we sampled passerine and near passerine birds on organic strawberry farms in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. The ratio of two white blood cell types, heterophils and lymphocytes (H:L ratio), served as a proxy for bird health. Mixed-effects models revealed that song sparrow health slightly increased on farms with high proportions of agriculture (p = 0.08). High levels of reproductive readiness were also linked to improved song sparrow health (p = 0.007). The study’s findings suggest that foraging and habitat resources created by agriculturalists, as well as fledging survivorship may be impacting bird health in the Central Coast. There is a need to re-evaluate human-wildlife relationships as agricultural spaces may be safeguarding avian communities.

As marine management measures increasingly protect static areas of the oceans, it is important to make sure protected areas capture and protect persistent populations. Rocky reefs in many temperate areas worldwide serve as habitat for canopy‐forming macroalgae and these structure‐forming species of kelps (order Laminariales) often serve as important habitat for a great diversity of species. Macrocystis pyrifera is the most common canopy‐forming kelp species found along the coast of California, but the distribution and abundance of M. pyrifera varies in space and time. The purpose of this study is to determine what environmental parameters are correlated with and their relative contribution to the spatial and temporal persistence of M. pyrifera along the central coast of California and how well those environmental parameters can be used to predict areas where this species is more likely to persist. Nine environmental variables considered in this study included depth of the seafloor, structure of the rocky reef, proportion of rocky reef, size of kelp patch, biomass of kelp within a patch, distance from the edge of a kelp patch, sea surface temperature, wave orbital velocities, and population connectivity of individual kelp patches. Using a generalized linear mixed effects model (GLMM), the persistence of M. pyrifera was significantly associated with seven of the nine variables considered: depth, complexity of the rocky reef, proportion of rock, patch biomass, distance from the edge of a patch, population connectivity, and wave orbital velocities. These seven environmental variables were then used to predict the persistence of kelp across the central coast, and these predictions were compared to a reserved dataset of M. pyrifera persistence, which was not used in the creation of the GLMM. The environmental variables were shown to accurately predict the persistence of M. pyrifera within the central coast of California (r = 0.71, P < 0.001). Because persistence of giant kelp is important to the community structure of kelp forests, understanding those factors that support persistent populations of M. pyrifera will enable more effective management of these ecosystems.

Simple SummaryCabbage maggot is a devastating pest of cole crops such as broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprout, cabbage, and turnip in the Central Coast of California. Organic and conventional growers in the region have limited access to non-chemical management options. To develop a trap crop, understanding the relative susceptibility of brassicas to cabbage maggot is essential. Thus, brassicas were evaluated as companion plants with broccoli and lettuce after exposure to cabbage maggot flies. In 2013 and 2014, cabbage maggot flies were observed to lay more eggs at the base of turnip plants than broccoli. The larval feeding damage was greater on turnip than on broccoli. Lettuce (a non-brassicaceous crop) was included in the experiment to determine if it could suppress cabbage maggot attacks on broccoli. Lettuce did not reduce cabbage maggot infestation on broccoli after planting side-by-side. Additionally, the number of eggs and larval feeding damage were lower in cauliflower than in broccoli. Cabbage maggot infestation on cabbage was not different from that on broccoli. This study suggests that turnip should be further evaluated by planting on border rows of fields, or as an intercrop, to manage cabbage maggot in broccoli in the Central Coast of California.Cabbage maggot, Delia radicum (L.) (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) is a serious pest of Brassica such as broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica Plenck) and cauliflower (B. oleracea L. var. botrytis) in California’s Central Coast. Since there are limited non-chemical options available for growers to manage D. radicum, there is an urgent need to develop alternative tactics. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of side-by-side plantings of turnip (Brassica rapa var. rapa L.), lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), cauliflower, and cabbage (B. oleracea L. var. capitata) with broccoli on D. radicum infestation. In 2013 and 2014, the experiments were conducted in Salinas, California. Significantly greater numbers of eggs and larval feeding damage were found on turnip compared with broccoli. Lettuce (Asteraceae), a non-Brassica crop, was compared with broccoli; however, lettuce did not reduce oviposition or larval feeding damage on broccoli. The larval feeding damage on cauliflower was significantly lower than on broccoli when planted side-by-side. The effects on cabbage were not significantly different from broccoli in terms of oviposition and larval feeding damage. This new information generated from the Central Coast of California will be further utilized to develop a trap crop to effectively tackle the D. radicum problem in Brassica fields.

Organic vegetable farms on the Central Coast region of California are generally intensive operations. That is, two and sometimes three crops may be harvested off the same acreage each year. Many approaches exist for growing and marketing organic vegetables. This publication describes the range of soil management practices, pest management, crop rotations, cover crops, and harvest and packing methods currently used by organic growers on the Central Coast of California. Marketing options and state and federal regulations governing organic commodities are also discussed. A general sequence of operations, equipment requirements, resource use, costs, yield and return ranges are presented for thirteen vegetable crops and two cover crops. The vegetables included are cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, garlic, lettuce (leaf and romaine), onions (red and yellow), snap peas, snow peas, bell peppers (green and red), sweet corn, and winter squash (large and small varieties). Barley and vetch are the two cover crops detailed.

Role of <i>Lygus hesperus</i> (Hemiptera: Miridae) Adult Feeding on Deformation of Blackberry Fruits

Incidence of cabbage maggot (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) infestation and plant damage in seeded Brassica fields in California's central coast

Growers of fresh produce on the Central Coast of California currently face conflicting demands regarding measures to protect food safety and those to protect environmental quality. To explore the extent of conflicting pressures and identify the range of possible impacts on the environment, we conducted a survey of Central Coast irrigated-row-crop growers during spring 2007. The results indicate that growers are experiencing a clear conflict, and some are incurring economic hardships because their practices to protect the environment have resulted in the rejection of crops by buyers. In addition, some growers are being encouraged to or are actively removing conservation practices for water quality, and most growers are taking action to discourage or eliminate wildlife from and adjacent to croplands. These actions could affect large areas of land on the Central Coast and, as indicated by growers, they are likely to increase over time.

Bimonthly crab trapping and tagging efforts off the central coast of California from August 1976 to April 1981 yielded data on over 9,000 adult Cancer antennarius, the northeastern Pacific rock crab. Female crabs were most abundant during autumn, the period of warmest water temperatures along central California, but males exhibited no clearly defined seasonal abundance trends. Ovigerous females were prevalent during winter, resulting in the subsequent dispersal of pelagic larvae during spring and early summer. Rock crabs attain sexual maturity about 2 years after settlement, at a size of 60-80 mm carapace width. Adult crab growth averages 16.7% in carapace width and 57.7% in body weight after a single molt, with intermolt periods of up to 16 months duration. Maximum size may exceed 150 mm in carapace width and 900 g in body weight after 5 or 6 years making C. antennarius a desirable sport and commercial fishery species. Tag returns averaged 6.3% while tag loss, as detected by a scar on the epimeral suture of recaptured crabs, was 14.4%. Nearly half of all recaptured crabs were recovered at their original release site after 2-18 months, although migratory distances of 7 km were recorded for several individuals.

Non-crop vegetation, such as hedgerows and cover crops, are important on-farm diversification practices that support biodiversity and ecosystem services; however, information about their rates and patterns of adoption are scarce. We used satellite and aerial imagery coupled with machine learning classification to map the use of hedgerows/windbreaks and winter cover crops in California's Central Coast, a globally important agricultural area of intensive fresh produce production. We expected that adoption of both practices would be relatively low and unevenly distributed across the landscape, with higher levels of adoption found in marginal farmland and in less intensively cultivated areas where the pressure to remove non-crop vegetation may be lower. Our remote sensing classification revealed that only ~6% of farmland had winter cover crops in 2021 and 0.26% of farmland had hedgerows or windbreaks in 2018. Thirty-seven percent of ranch parcels had cover crops on at least 5% of the ranch while 22% of ranches had at least one hedgerow/windbreak. Nearly 16% of farmland had other annual winter crops, some of which could provide services similar to cover crops; however, 60% of farmland had bare soil over the winter study period, with the remainder of farmland classified as perennial crops or strawberries. Hotspot analysis showed significant areas of adoption of both practices in the hillier regions of all counties. Finally, qualitative interviews revealed that adoption patterns were likely driven by interrelated effects of topography, land values, and farming models, with organic, diversified farms implementing these practices in less ideal, lower-value farmland. This study demonstrates how remote sensing coupled with qualitative research can be used to map and interpret patterns of important diversification practices, with implications for tracking policy interventions and targeting resources to assist farmers motivated to expand adoption.