California Plant Research Articles

How best management practices affect emissions in gas turbine power plants—An important factor to consider when strengthening emission standards

ABSTRACTThe Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) is considering strengthening the Emission Standard of Air Pollutants for Stationary Gas Turbines, originally published in 2011 (DB11/847–2011), with a focus on reducing nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions. A feasibility study was conducted to evaluate the current operation of 12 existing combined-cycle gas turbine power plants and the design of two new plants in Beijing and their emission reduction potential, in comparison with a state-of-the-art power plant in California. The study found that best management practices (BMPs) could potentially improve the emission level of the power plants, and should be implemented to minimize emissions under current design characteristics. These BMPs include (1) more frequent tuning of turbine combustors; (2) onsite testing of natural gas characteristics in comparison to turbine manufacturer’s specifics and tuning of turbine to natural gas quality; (3) onsite testing of aqueous ammonia to ensure adequate ammonia concentration in the mixed solution, and the purity of the solution; (4) more careful inspection of the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), and the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) during operation and maintenance; (5) annual testing of the catalyst coupon on the SCR to ensure catalyst effectiveness; and (6) annual ammonia injection grid (AIG) tuning. The study found that without major modification to the plants, improving the management of the Beijing gas turbine power plants may potentially reduce the current hourly average NOx emission level of 5–10 parts per million (ppm; ranges reflects plant variation) by up to 20%. The exact improvement associated with each BMP for each facility requires more detailed analysis, and requires engagement of turbine, HRSG, and SCR manufacturers. This potential improvement is an important factor to consider when strengthening the emission standard. However, note that with the continuous needs of improving air quality within the area, more expensive control measures, such as retrofitting the turbines or the HRSGs, may be considered.Implications: This study analyzed the potential emission reductions associated with implementing the best management practices (BMPs) on the combined cycle and cogeneration power plants in Beijing. It determined that implementing the BMPs could potentially achieve up to 580 metric tonnes, or 0.6%, reductions of all NOx emissions in Beijing. Many other cities in China and Asia battling air quality issues may find the information useful in order to evaluate the emission reduction potential of their own gas turbine power plants.

Retirements of Coal and Oil Power Plants in California: Association With Reduced Preterm Birth Among Populations Nearby.

Coal and oil power plant retirements reduce air pollution nearby, but few studies have leveraged these natural experiments for public health research. We used California Department of Public Health birth records and US Energy Information Administration data from 2001-2011 to evaluate the relationship between the retirements of 8 coal and oil power plants and nearby preterm (gestational age of <37 weeks) birth. We conducted a difference-in-differences analysis using adjusted linear mixed models that included 57,005 births-6.3% of which were preterm-to compare the probability of preterm birth before and after power plant retirement among mothers residing within 0-5 km and 5-10 km of the 8 power plants. We found that power plant retirements were associated with a decrease in the proportion of preterm birth within 5 km (-0.019, 95% CI: -0.031, -0.008) and 5-10 km (-0.015, 95% CI: -0.024, -0.007), controlling for secular trends with mothers living 10-20 km away. For the 0-5-km area, this corresponds to a reduction in preterm birth from 7.0% to 5.1%. Subgroup analyses indicated a potentially larger association among non-Hispanic black and Asian mothers than among non-Hispanic white and Hispanic mothers and no differences in educational attainment. Future coal and oil power plant retirements may reduce preterm birth among nearby populations.

Resistance and resilience: ten years of monitoring shrub and prairie communities in Orange County, CA, USA

AbstractMediterranean‐climate natural systems have high ecological value, yet the extent of their cover has diminished greatly due to changes in land use. Other stressors, ranging from intense short‐term disturbances such as wildfire to more gradual events such as extended drought and continuous pressures including competition with invasive species, test the resistance and resilience of community composition and structure. Data from long‐term monitoring provided an opportunity to evaluate the responses of three Southern California plant communities (chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and grassland) to disturbances. We analyzed ten years of point intercept and quadrat data from Orange County to describe trends through time and assess community resistance and resilience. We found that grassland communities, which were more degraded from the start of our study, were generally resistant to change. Chaparral was also fairly resistant to disturbance, while coastal sage scrub exhibited more variation, with some transects exhibiting more resilience than others. Transects with fewer native shrubs experienced less of a decline in shrub cover during drought than those with dense shrubs. Grasslands had the lowest native diversity. There were increases in native diversity in years with more precipitation that were preceded by dry years. There was a decline in native perennial bunchgrasses during our monitoring. Our analyses demonstrated the resilience of native shrub cover to fire and the susceptibility (low resistance) of dense native shrubs and native grasses to drought and increases in non‐native species. We encourage academic ecologists to embrace diverse data sources available for hypothesis testing, especially monitoring efforts associated with regulatory purposes, to advance the goal of understanding long‐term dynamics.

Direct Power Output Forecasts From Remote Sensing Image Processing

A direct methodology for intra-day forecasts (1–6 h ahead) of power output (PO) from photovoltaic (PV) solar plants is proposed. The forecasting methodology uses publicly available images from geosynchronous satellites to predict PO directly without resorting to intermediate irradiance (resource) forecasting. Forecasts are evaluated using four years (January 2012–December 2015) of hourly PO data from 2 nontracking, 1 MWp PV plants in California. For both sites, the proposed methodology achieves forecasting skills ranging from 24% to 69% relative to reference persistence model results, with root-mean-square error (RMSE) values ranging from 90 to 136 kW across the studied horizons. Additionally, we consider the performance of the proposed methodology when applied to imagery from the next generation of geosynchronous satellites, e.g., Himawari-8 and geostationary operational environmental satellite (GOES-R).

A database infrastructure to implement real-time solar and wind power generation intra-hour forecasts

This paper presents a simple forecasting database infrastructure implemented using the open-source database management system MySQL. This proposal aims at advancing the myriad of solar and wind forecast models present in the literature into a production stage. The paper gives all relevant details necessary to implement a MySQL infra-structure that collects the raw data, filters unrealistic values, classifies the data, and produces forecasts automatically and without the assistance of any other computational tools. The performance of this methodology is demonstrated by creating intra-hour power output forecasts for a 1 MW photovoltaic installation in Southern California and a 10 MW wind power plant in Central California. Several machine learning forecast models are implemented (persistence, auto-regressive and nearest neighbors) and tested. Both point forecasts and prediction intervals are generated with this methodology. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of solar and wind power forecasts were performed for an extended testing period (4 years and 6 years, respectively). Results show an acceptable and robust performance for the proposed forecasts.

Coyote Brush as Facilitator of Native California Plant Recovery in the Santa Monica Mountains

Exotic annual grasses now cover large areas of southern California that were once stands of native California sage scrub (CSS), or a mixture of native grasses, forbs, and CSS. Both CSS and California grasslands are threatened habitats, where restorations of type-converted landscapes are often burdened by the persistent dominance of non-native annual grasses. Research finds that once exotic grasses take hold in these areas, native plant communities are extremely slow to recover, if they recover at all. Coyote brush (Baccharis pilularis DC) is a native shrub common to CSS habitat and often appears in a complex mosaic with other vegetation types including grasslands. Coyote brush has been documented invading grasslands, resulting in a change of state from grassland to shrubland in northern California. This study investigates the long-term consequences of coyote brush invasion in a type-converted landscape of southern California. Stands of expanding coyote brush were transected to identify species composition along a spatial and temporal continuum. Results show that, following initial invasion, non-native species are gradually replaced by, not only coyote brush, but also several other noteworthy native species. This study finds that over the 37 yr timeframe, exotic grasses gradually decline while native plant cover increases in landscapes invaded by coyote brush. We conclude that in the Santa Monica Mountain areas studied, coyote brush invasion of type-converted landscapes leads to increased native plant diversity that includes native grasses and a variety of shrubs.

Vascular plant extinctions in California: A critical assessment

AbstractAimExtinctions of species and subspecific taxa in hotspots of biodiversity deserve special attention. After more than 40 years of major efforts, estimates of extinct plant taxa in California seem to be somewhat stabilized. The time is ripe for an attempt to critically evaluate our current knowledge of plant extinctions in California and make a comparison with other countries with mediterranean‐type climates.LocationCalifornia.MethodsBesides species‐specific studies and personal communications, major databases and state floras were consulted.ResultsCompared with all numbers published earlier, the current analysis ended with smaller numbers of globally extinct plant species and taxa (13 and 17, respectively) and larger numbers of species and taxa extinct in California, but still present in at least one other state or country (15 and 15). For each species, life form, habitat, year of the last collection and assumed drivers of extinction are listed.Main conclusionsMost of the presumed extinct taxa were originally present in one or two counties and often are known from only one or a very few collections. Therefore, the most robust generalization regarding factors contributing to taxon extinctions is a small range size and a low original abundance. Most of the presumed globally extinct taxa were originally present in lowlands where most of the human population and habitat destruction are concentrated. Taxa limited to special habitats, like wetlands, seem to be more predisposed to extinction. Among assumed drivers of plant extinction, agriculture, urbanization and development in general are the most often cited possibilities. Compared with other countries with mediterranean‐type climates, the extinction rate of vascular plants in California is lower than in Israel, comparable with the Cape Province of South Africa, Western Australia and continental Mediterranean European countries, and higher than in Chile.

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. mori, a New Forma Specialis Causing Fusarium Wilt of Blackberry.

Fusarium oxysporum has recently been identified as the cause of a wilt disease affecting blackberry in California and Mexico. Thirty-six isolates of F. oxysporum obtained from symptomatic blackberry plants in California and Mexico were comprised of nine distinct somatic compatibility groups (SCGs). Phylogenetic analysis of a concatenated data set, consisting of sequences of the translation elongation factor 1-α and β-tubulin genes and the intergenic spacer of the ribosomal DNA, identified nine three-locus sequence types, each of which corresponded to an SCG. Six SCGs were present only in California, two only in Mexico, and one in both California and Mexico. An isolate associated with the most common SCG in California was tested for pathogenicity on blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, and lettuce. All blueberry, raspberry, and lettuce plants that were inoculated remained healthy, but two of the five strawberry cultivars tested developed symptoms. The three strawberry cultivars that were resistant to the blackberry pathogen were also resistant to F. oxysporum f. sp. fragariae, the cause of Fusarium wilt of strawberry. We propose to designate strains of F. oxysporum that are pathogenic to blackberry as Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. mori forma specialis nov.

IDE Technologies completes re-commissioning of Californian desal plant

IDE Technologies completes re-commissioning of Californian desal plant

Species richness and endemism in the native flora of California.

California's vascular flora is the most diverse and threatened in temperate North America. Previous studies of spatial patterns of Californian plant diversity have been limited by traditional metrics, non-uniform geographic units, and distributional data derived from floristic descriptions for only a subset of species. We revisited patterns of sampling intensity, species richness, and relative endemism in California based on equal-area spatial units, the full vascular flora, and specimen-based distributional data. We estimated richness, weighted endemism (inverse range-weighting of species), and corrected weighted endemism (weighted endemism corrected for richness), and performed a randomization test for significantly high endemism. Possible biases in herbarium data do not obscure patterns of high richness and endemism at the spatial resolution studied. High species richness was sometimes associated with significantly high endemism (e.g., Klamath Ranges) but often not. In Stebbins and Major's (1965) main endemism hotspot, Southwestern California, species richness is high across much of the Peninsular and Transverse ranges but significantly high endemism is mostly localized to the Santa Rosa and San Bernardino mountains. In contrast, species richness is low in the Channel Islands, where endemism is significantly high, as also found for much of the Death Valley region. Measures of taxonomic richness, even with greater weighting of range-restricted taxa, are insufficient for identifying areas of significantly high endemism that warrant conservation attention. Differences between our findings and those in previous studies appear to mostly reflect the source and scale of distributional data, and recent analytical refinements.

Topsoe providing technology, services to Grannus’ NH3 plant in California

Topsoe providing technology, services to Grannus’ NH3 plant in California

Population-level genetic variation and climate change in a biodiversity hotspot.

Estimated future climate scenarios can be used to predict where hotspots of endemism may occur over the next century, but life history, ecological and genetic traits will be important in informing the varying responses within myriad taxa. Essential to predicting the consequences of climate change to individual species will be an understanding of the factors that drive genetic structure within and among populations. Here, I review the factors that influence the genetic structure of plant species in California, but are applicable elsewhere; existing levels of genetic variation, life history and ecological characteristics will affect the ability of an individual taxon to persist in the presence of anthropogenic change. Persistence in the face of climate change is likely determined by life history characteristics: dispersal ability, generation time, reproductive ability, degree of habitat specialization, plant-insect interactions, existing genetic diversity and availability of habitat or migration corridors. Existing levels of genetic diversity in plant populations vary based on a number of evolutionary scenarios that include endemism, expansion since the last glacial maximum, breeding system and current range sizes. A number of well-documented examples are provided from the California Floristic Province. Some predictions can be made for the responses of plant taxa to rapid environmental changes based on geographic position, evolutionary history, existing genetic variation, and ecological amplitude. The prediction of how species will respond to climate change will require a synthesis drawing from population genetics, geography, palaeontology and ecology. The important integration of the historical factors that have shaped the distribution and existing genetic structure of California's plant taxa will enable us to predict and prioritize the conservation of species and areas most likely to be impacted by rapid climate change, human disturbance and invasive species.

Trade-off between early emergence and herbivore susceptibility mediates exotic success in an experimental California plant community.

Ecological trade‐offs are fundamental to theory in community ecology; critical for understanding species coexistence in diverse plant communities, as well as the evolution of diverse life‐history strategies. Invasions by exotic species can provide insights into the importance of trade‐offs in community assembly, because the ecological strategies of invading species often differ from those present in the native species pool. Exotic annual species have invaded many Mediterranean‐climate areas around the globe, and often germinate and emerge earlier in the growing season than native species. Early‐season growth can enable exotic annual species to preempt space and resources, competitively suppressing later‐emerging native species; however, early‐emerging individuals may also be more apparent to herbivores. This suggests a potential trade‐off between seasonal phenology and susceptibility to herbivory. To evaluate this hypothesis, we monitored the emergence and growth of 12 focal species (six each native and exotic) in monoculture and polyculture, while experimentally excluding generalist herbivores both early and later in the growing season. Consistent with past studies, the exotic species emerged earlier than native species. Regardless of species origin, earlier‐emerging species achieved greater biomass by the end of the experiment, but were more negatively impacted by herbivory, particularly in the early part of the growing season. This greater impact of early‐season herbivory on early‐active species led to a reduction in the competitive advantage of exotic species growing in polyculture, and improved the performance of later‐emerging natives. Such a trade‐off between early growth and susceptibility to herbivores could be an important force in community assembly in seasonal herbaceous‐dominated ecosystems. These results also show how herbivore exclusion favors early‐active exotic species in this system, with important implications for management in many areas invaded by early‐active exotic species.

Jepson Manual Geographic Subdivision Boundary Changes For the Klamath and Cascade Ranges of Northwestern California and Implications For Regional Floristics

When The Jepson Manual: Higher plants of California was published in 1993, its Geographic Subdivisions of California map included an area of Klamath Ranges geology in its Cascade Ranges subdivision, creating an anomaly with floristic ramifications. We aim to correct that anomaly in this paper. This incorrect designation leads to several issues, including ecologic and geologic inconsistences, and problematic results when conducting floristic analysis in the eastern Klamath Ranges. Botanical field surveys for several recent projects in the eastern Klamath Ranges, newly available digitized data made available online by the Consortium of California Herbaria, and several new taxa recently published from the eastern Klamath Ranges provided means and rationale to make much-needed changes to the Klamath Ranges boundary. Using personal experience, existing ecologic and geologic references, and GIS analysis we revised the Klamath and Cascade Ranges boundaries, provided geographic range updates for over 230 plant taxa, and updated the existing California Geographic Subdivisions descriptions to reflect the boundary revisions. Herein we present the revised map boundary, describe our analysis and results, and provide floristic analysis made possible by the map revisions.

Demonstration Tests of Infrared Peeling System with Electrical Emitters for Tomatoes

. Infrared (IR) dry-peeling is an emerging technology that could avoid the drawbacks of steam and lye peeling of tomatoes. The objectives of this research were to evaluate the performance of an IR peeling system at two tomato processing plants in California and to compare product quality, peelability, and energy consumption of IR and steam peeling. The system was continuously operated using tomatoes of different sizes and cultivars. High percentages (62% to 85%) of fully peeled tomatoes were obtained and varied depending on tomato cultivar and seasonality. IR dry-peeled tomatoes had a firmer texture than steam and lye peeled tomatoes. IR peeling achieved a peeling loss in the range of 17% to 42%, which was lower than typical loss in the industry. Small tomatoes had higher loss than large tomatoes in the late season. Thermal energy consumption of the proposed technology in full-scale production (10 ton h-1) is predicted to be 117.0 and 137.3 MJ ton-1 for indoor and outdoor operation, respectively. The estimated energy savings of IR dry-peeling should be 22% and 28% compared to lye and steam peeling, respectively. The demonstration results showed that the IR dry-peeling technology could be a viable alternative to lye and steam peeling.

Evolutionary lessons from California plant phylogeography.

Phylogeography documents the spatial distribution of genetic lineages that result from demographic processes, such as population expansion, population contraction, and gene movement, shaped by climate fluctuations and the physical landscape. Because most phylogeographic studies have used neutral markers, the role of selection may have been undervalued. In this paper, we contend that plants provide a useful evolutionary lesson about the impact of selection on spatial patterns of neutral genetic variation, when the environment affects which individuals can colonize new sites, and on adaptive genetic variation, when environmental heterogeneity creates divergence at specific loci underlying local adaptation. Specifically, we discuss five characteristics found in plants that intensify the impact of selection: sessile growth form, high reproductive output, leptokurtic dispersal, isolation by environment, and the potential to evolve longevity. Collectively, these traits exacerbate the impact of environment on movement between populations and local selection pressures-both of which influence phylogeographic structure. We illustrate how these unique traits shape these processes with case studies of the California endemic oak, Quercus lobata, and the western North American lichen, Ramalina menziesii Obviously, the lessons we learn from plant traits are not unique to plants, but they highlight the need for future animal, plant, and microbe studies to incorporate its impact. Modern tools that generate genome-wide sequence data are now allowing us to decipher how evolutionary processes affect the spatial distribution of different kinds of genes and also to better model future spatial distribution of species in response to climate change.

Genome Sequences of Two Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato Race 1 Strains, Isolated from Tomato Fields in California.

Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato race 1 strains have evolved to overcome genetic resistance in tomato. Here, we present the draft genome sequences of two race 1 P. syringae pv. tomato strains, A9 and 407, isolated from diseased tomato plants in California.

Identification, pathogenicity and abundance of Paracremonium pembeum sp. nov. and Graphium euwallaceae sp. nov.—two newly discovered mycangial associates of the polyphagous shot hole borer (Euwallacea sp.) in California

Fusarium euwallaceae is a well-characterized fungal symbiont of the exotic ambrosia beetle Euwallacea sp. (polyphagous shot hole borer [PSHB]), together inciting Fusarium dieback on many host plants in Israel and California. Recent discoveries of additional fungal symbionts within ambrosia beetle mycangia suggest these fungi occur as communities. Colony-forming units of Graphium euwallaceae sp. nov. and Paracremonium pembeum sp. nov., two novel fungal associates of PSHB from California, grew from 36 macerated female heads and 36 gallery walls collected from Platanus racemosa, Acer negundo, Persea americana and Ricinus communis. Fungi were identified based on micromorphology and phylogenetic analyses of the combined internal transcribed spacer region (nuc rDNA ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 [ITS barcode]), elongation factor (EF 1-α), small subunit (18S rDNA) sequences for Graphium spp., ITS, EF 1-α, calmodulin (cmdA), large subunit of the ATP citrate lyase (acl1), β-tubulin (tub2), RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (rpb2) and large subunit (28S rDNA) sequences for Paracremonium spp. Other Graphium spp. recovered from PSHB in Vietnam, Euwallacea fornicatus in Thailand, E. validus in Pennsylvania and Paracremonium sp. recovered from PSHB in Vietnam were identified. F. euwallaceae was recovered from mycangia at higher frequencies and abundances in all hosts except R. communis, in which those of F. euwallaceae and P. pembeum were equal. P. pembeum was relatively more abundant within gallery walls of A. negundo and R. communis. In all hosts combined F. euwallaceae was relatively more abundant within PSHB heads than gallery walls. All three fungi grew at different rates and colonized inoculated excised stems of P. americana and A. negundo. P. pembeum produced longer lesions than F. euwallaceae and G. euwallaceae on inoculated avocado shoots. Results indicate PSHB is associated with a dynamic assemblage of mycangial fungal associates that pose additional risk to native and nonnative hosts in California.

Day-ahead forecasting of solar power output from photovoltaic plants in the American Southwest

A forecasting method for hourly-averaged, day-ahead power output (PO) from photovoltaic (PV) power plants based on least-squares optimization of Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) is presented. Three variations of the forecasting method are evaluated against PO data from two non-tracking, 1 MWp PV plants in California for 2011–2014. The method performance, including the inter-annual performance variability and the spatial smoothing of pairing the two plants, is evaluated in terms of standard error metrics, as well as in terms of the occurrence of severe forecasting error events. Results validate the performance of the proposed methodology as compared with previous studies. We also show that the bias errors in the irradiance inputs only have a limited impact on the PO forecast performance, since the method corrects for systematic errors in the irradiance forecast. The relative root mean square error (RMSE) for PO is in the range of 10.3%–14.0% of the nameplate capacity, and the forecast skill ranges from 13% to 23% over a persistence model. Over three years, an over-prediction of the daily PO exceeding 40% only occurs twice at one of the two plants under study, while the spatially averaged PO of the paired plants never exceeds this threshold.

South Coast REC: Linking urban landscapes, water conservation and water quality

News from the RECs South Coast REC: Linking urban landscapes, water conservation and water quality D arren Haver, director of South Coast Research and Extension Center (REC), arrives at work without leaving the Irvine suburbs. Passing block after block of housing, old developments and new, he sees irrigation water sheeting off concrete driveways into drains. Reaching the 200-acre REC, which soon will have housing developments right up to the fences, he hears the water running off the driveways of the realistically landscaped housing sites he’s had built at the center. Here, Haver, who also serves as county director and water resources/quality advisor for UC ANR Cooperative Extension (UCCE) in Orange County, is studying two major aspects of residential water use: how much is used in different landscapes, and how much pollution occurs in any runoff from those landscapes. From 50% to 70% of residential water use is applied to land- scaping. Typically the landscaping is over-irrigated, producing runoff that enters storm drains and creeks and eventually the ocean. The runoff may contain pesticides, most commonly pyre- throids found in lawn insecticides and ant sprays, which are en- tering urban watersheds at levels toxic to aquatic invertebrates. The landscaped housing sites at South Coast REC are test- ing best management practices (BMPs) for residential water conservation and environmental protection. They serve as dem- onstration gardens for local homeowners and are inspiring new partnerships beyond UC — with pesticide manufacturers, for example, and even big-box stores. The residential-use water study began here in this uniquely urban REC in 2005. With environmental chemist Jay Gan, at UC Riverside’s (UCR) Department of Environmental Sciences, and entomologists Les Greenberg and Michael Rust, in the UCR Department of Entomology, Haver was investigating how in- secticides were reaching local creeks. Haver became interested in the very high use of ant sprays and lawn insecticides around Darren L. Haver Researchers at South Coast REC use these three landscaped home sites to study water use and pesticide runoff. From left: Site A, Site B and Site C. 6 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE • VOLUME 70 , NUMBER 1 homes. “Nobody at that time had a clue about what happens when you apply those sprays to concrete or bricks,” recalls Haver — or how much of the chemicals runs off-site. Three home sites were built at South Coast REC in 2006 to develop, test and implement BMPs for residential landscaping. Each is 40 feet wide by 100 feet long, with a 24-by-24-foot struc- ture, to simulate a home, and a landscaped yard with a standard 2% slope to the curb. Site A, the typical landscape site, includes cool-season turf and big-box store plants such as white birch; it has a poorly installed sprinkler irrigation system, and the controller is set to the default position, providing water regularly regardless of weather conditions. A solid concrete driveway funnels roof wa- ter and landscape runoff away from the house. Site B has a low-impact design, sometimes called Mediterranean, used in new housing developments. It has less lawn area, warm-season grass, plants that have some drought tolerance, a better irrigation design with soil moisture sensors, and some permeable flagstone walkway paving and slot drains in the driveway to divert water to planting beds. Site C is a model of sustainability and water conservation. It has native landscaping, with native Southern California plants, a native sedge lawn, permeable paving and a smart drip irriga- tion controller that uses weather data from the previous day. Multiple studies by UC researchers — at the South Coast REC test home sites and elsewhere — have helped to establish the significance of home landscapes as a source of environmental contaminants. Research undertaken with scientists at the UCR Department of Environmental Sciences (Jiang et al. 2010) showed that pyre- throid insecticides and fipronil (common in ant sprays) are per- sistent in home landscapes. They were still present in wash-off water 112 days after application to concrete, and for more than 42 days after 14 washing-drying cycles. At the American Chemical Society National Meeting in 2010, Haver presented, with fellow researchers Tamara Majcherek, from the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, and Jay Gan and Sveta Bondarenko, from the UCR Department of Environmental Sciences, the results from an experi- ment that involved washing down the