Volunteers turn up for Sudden Oak Death blitz
Volunteers filled the room at Garland Ranch Park in Carmel Valley this weekend to learn how they can help save oak trees.
Sudden Oak Death, an airborne pathogen, has swept down from Oregon all the way to Big Sur, leaving oaks dead in its path.
Scientists with University of California Berkeley and University of California Davis are hoping blitz volunteers sending data from trees can help collect valuable information and slow down the disease.
Moisture-loving spores that the pathogen uses to spread were slowed down by California's extreme drought, but biologists say that is not a forever solution to a serious problem.
Blitz volunteers were asked to go out into the field and collect bay leaves from trees infected with Sudden Oak Death. When they are out in the field biologists are also asking them to use their smart phones to track the GPS locations of the disease.