My old botany professor's field site in Ojai looks nothing like it did in 1998

Uma Reed · 2026-10-28T06:55:04.721663+00:00

I went back to the oak grove where I did my first plant survey as a student in 1998, and the whole understory is different now. The spot near the creek that used to be full of baby oaks coming up is mostly grass and a few big old trees, which makes sense because we haven't had a wet spring there in a while. I counted 11 mature oaks on my old map and only 2 saplings under 3 feet, when back then I could find 20 in a morning easy. There's also this new shrub moving in that I'm pretty sure is native but wasn't on my list back then. My old professor retired so I can't ask him what he thinks. Has anyone else gone back to a study site after 20 plus years and found the plant mix changed way more than they expected?

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My old botany professor's field site in Ojai looks nothing like it did in 1998 | Botany Lovers - HW Forums