The university of california division of agriculture and natural resources (UC ANR) uses mcintire stennis funds for forestry research toward the goal of sustainable forest management and to train…

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources $1,424,538 on October 1, 2025, under the Cooperative Forestry Research program (CFDA 10.202), also known as McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Research funding.

UC ANR conducts multidisciplinary forestry research toward sustainable forest management, training undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral scientists across nine UC campuses and all 58 California counties. Research teams bring expertise in ecology, biology, hydrology, physiology, and economics to projects addressing forest productivity, forest protection, and resource optimization. Current projects include fundamental mycorrhizal research demonstrating how ectomycorrhizal fungi contribute to forest productivity and economic benefits for rural communities, with objectives to characterize nutrient trading in fungal-host relationships and apply findings to reforestation and biomass production frameworks. UC ANR delivers forestry research, outreach and public education activities, and policy analysis on issues affecting forest lands across California, the country, and internationally, reaching forestry scientists, land managers and owners, state and national policymakers, management agencies, academics, environmental nonprofits, and government partners.

Period of performance runs from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2027, with place of performance in Oakland, California. The assistance type is a formula grant distributed to eligible state-certified forestry institutions as determined by the Governor or their designee.

The university of california division of agriculture and natural resources (UC ANR) uses mcintire stennis funds for forestry research toward the goal of sustainable forest management and to train future forestry scientists skilled in advancing this multidisciplinary research. UC ANR has a long tradition of excellence in research, extension, and teaching in forestry, conducting mcintire stennis funded research on forest lands since the funding opportunity began. The UC ANR researchers bring expertise in ecology, biology, hydrology, physiology, and economics. They assemble multidisciplinary teams to conduct forestry research, outreach and public education activities, and policy analysis on issues affecting forest lands across the state, country, and world. These projects train undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral scientists, reaching a target audience that includes forestry scientists, land managers and owners, state and national policymakers, management agencies, academics and university administrators, and environmental nonprofit and government partners, among others. Current projects funded by nifa's mcintire stennis program are briefly described below, organized by broad topic area. Management and sustainability of forest and range resources. One project focuses on demonstrating how fundamental mycorrhizal research directly contributes to forest productivity and economic benefits for rural communities. The overall objective is to characterize the extent and impact of ectomycorrhizal fungi (ECM) nutrient trading beyond macronutrients and apply this knowledge to frameworks of forest resource optimization, including reforestation efforts and biomass production. The central hypothesis is that suillus, core community members of pineaceae forests, are not only essential for host macronutrient acquisition, but also host access to micronutrients that are essential for growth and productivity. This research will advance forest management practices with implications for enhanced timber production and ecosystem resilience across california's working forests. The findings will directly benefit rural communities dependent on forest industries, while advancing scientific knowledge of mycorrhizal nutrient dynamics with implications for forestry practices nationwide. This research will benefit the understanding of forest ecosystem services and productivity and pave the way for technological advancements by elucidating how ECM mediated micronutrient cycling enhances biomass production and tree resilience, and will advance micronutrient informed silvicultural strategies. Management for ecosystem resilience. Forest and woodlands are a critical component of ecosystems across the western US, yet they are increasingly threatened by warmer temperatures and associated aridity, coupled with increases in disturbances such as wildfire and insect infestations. One project aims to identify strategies to proactively manage for ecosystem resilience to future disturbances and assess the potential to facilitate tree species range shifts following stand replacing wildfire to promote adaptation. The findings will have direct relevance for managing dry forest and woodland ecosystems. The team has been working with the management community throughout the project to ensure the experimental design is locally feasible and relevant. Disturbance is a natural and necessary part of forest dynamics. The major agents of natural disturbance in california forests are fire, pests, and pathogens. Extreme weather, land use change, and non native invasive species have altered the frequency and intensity of disturbance to forest ecosystems, with significant impacts on the dynamics and structure of forests. Because people live, recreate, and work in forest landscapes, disturbances also impact human well being.