LOWER LAKE – Cathy Koehler, co-director of the UC Davis McLaughlin Reserve, will present a lecture titled, “Why is our region a hot spot of botanical diversity?” from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 31.

The lecture will take place at the reserve, 26775 Morgan Valley, Lower Lake.

If you asked the average person on the street where the nearest global biodiversity hot spot is, what answers would you expect? Maybe the Brazilian rainforests? Indonesia?

Well, how about California and – even more specifically – right where we are living, in Lake County?

In our region, a unique climate and a complex geologic history have produced tremendous variation in how moisture, temperature, soil types and soil nutrients come together.

These factors govern how plants distribute themselves across the landscape, and provide opportunities for the evolution of species that associate with unique conditions.

The end result is that we are living in one of the 25 locations across the globe that together comprise only 1.4 percent of the earth's land surface but contain 44 percent of vascular plants and 35 percent of vertebrate species on the planet.

Koehler will give an overview of the processes that have lead to California, and our small corner of it in particular, being one of these amazing hots pots of biodiversity.

For more information call 707-995-9005.