Long-term exposure to wildfire smoke may be depleting the energy reserves of California’s orchard trees — reducing their nut production by as much as half, a new study has found. Smoke can

The research also showed that smoke exposure had lasting effects. Trees exposed to smoke for a long time had lower carbohydrate reserves, leading to reduced nut yields — sometimes cutting production by half. And the negative impact continued well beyond the wildfire season.

Long-term smoke exposure from massive wildfires lowers the energy reserves of orchard trees and can cut their nut production by half, researchers at the University of California, Davis, found. The smoke can affect trees for months after a megafire,