As the reality of climate change comes into focus, questions arise regarding the fate of our native trees. From the sea shore to the mountain top, our trees face unprecedented pressure, and we are only just beginning to discern patterns of adaptation. In this talk, Dave will focus on the native trees that provide the greatest support to native biodiversity in the coastal zones. He will look at scientific range projections for key species, and review 40 years of local oak tree performance in local reforestation plantings.

Dave will also cover some of the rare oaks from southern California which are beginning to be planted in the urbanized Bay Area, and consider ways in which the developed urban matrix may be utilized to provide surprising support for migrating biodiversity. Because oaks are genetically fascinating and frustrating, he will discuss historical patterns of oak evolution during previous rapid climate change events, to gain an understanding of how those patterns may be applied to our current circumstances to minimize biodiversity collapse. He will take a peek at the super diverse madro-tertiary geoflora, and ponder what California may look like in a substantially warmed world.

Dave Muffly has been planting and caring for trees in the Bay Area for 33 years. Dave earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, then branched into native oak plantings at Stanford, urban tree plantings, and fruit trees with the local group Magic. In 2007, Dave became a Board Certified Master Arborist, and designed the thousand tree 101 Freeway Soundwall planting led by the non-profit Canopy. The Soundwall plantings became the proof of concept for the even more radically diverse plantings at Apple Park in Cupertino, where Dave spent 7 years as Apple's Senior Arborist.