CA LCC supports USGS workshop on fog

More than 30 people attended a U.S. Geological Survey workshop on fog funded by the California Landscape Conservation Cooperative April 3-5.

The U.S. Geological Survey hosted natural resource managers and an international team of scientists in Menlo Park, CA, for the first Pacific Coastal Fog Workshop, which examined advective fog, a major modifier of climactic conditions along the California coast.

“The importance of fog to ecological communities on the coastline is significant because it not only provides moisture, but also affects the amount of sunlight received on the ground,” says Alicia Torregrosa, a physical scientist with the USGS Western Geographic Science Center in Menlo Park.

The workshop brought together resource managers and data providers who Torregrosa says have never gotten together to understand each other’s science. “It helped the managers understand what to expect from the data, and it helped the scientists understand how their data will be used.”

During the workshop, tools, methods and strategies were discussed that could enhance on-the-ground decisions regarding restoration of native habitats, natural hazard mitigation and long-term survival of fog-dependent vegetation.

“Resource managers need how much water fog is bringing to the lands they manage, Torregrosa said, “a better understanding of fog patterns will give them a better understanding of where fog-reliant plants such as redwoods can live.”

Torregrosa said support for the CA LCC was essential in helping bring the workshop together. “It helped us reach goals that were 20 years in the making. Ecologists have needed these products for decades.”