Michael Barbour is a plant ecologist in the Environmental Horticulture Department at the University of California, Davis. His research blends ecophysiology, population biology, and vegetation science. His current research projects include a state-wide survey of vernal pool vegetation in California for conservation purposes, a search for vegetation and soil traits that define old-growth" status for montane mixed conifer forest and a continuum of values for those traits that correlate with successional distance from old-growth status, and a reconstruction of pre-contact old-growth Californian mixed conifer forest. These projects have been supported by the USDA Forest Service, the National Science Foundation, the Packard Foundation, the California Department of Fish and Game, and the California Department of Transportation."
