Search: Research Centers, Ecosystems

With a fully equipped modern laboratory and computing facilities, the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory (SNARL) serves as a major center for research for the eastern Sierra Nevada and Owens Valley. Research at SNARL includes: Ecology of Mono Lake: UC research since 1976 on Mono Lake influenced a 1994 decision of the State Water Resources Control Board to raise the lake level, helping to restore its ecosystem; ongoing projects there include physicallimnology modeling and monitoring of brine shrimp and alkali fly populations, Sierran snowpack: SNARL scientists operate a snow laboratory on Mammoth Mountain; the National Science Foundation and NASA Earth Observing System Project fund ongoing studies of snowpack properties and snowmelt runoff, and Aquatic biology: Ongoing studies examine impacts of livestock grazing on stream ecology and effects of nonnative trout on Sierra Nevada lake ecosystems.

The Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center is located in the rugged Granite Mountains of the East Mojave Desert. Research at Sweeney includes: Linkages between biotic and physical components of piedmont landscapes. Characterization of microbial communities and desert soil crusts, Ecomorphology of desert lizards. Systematics of scorpions. Ecology of ants. Systematics of wasps and bees, Bighorn sheep demographics and dietary requirements. Rattlesnake life history/ distributional ecology. Kangaroo rat physiology and foraging behavior, and Ecology and evolutionary factors that maintain genetic diversity in annual plants. Long-term demographics of desert shrubs.

Set in the southernmost mountains of the Transverse Ranges, the Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve is located in the Cold Creek watershed of Malibu Creek, perhaps the most pristine and biologically diverse watershed in the Santa Monica Mountains. Research at Stunt Ranch includes: Stream ecology; ecophysiology of chaparral shrubs; post-fire successional processes in chaparral plant and animal communities; effects of slope and vegetation on post-fire erosion; fire modeling using remote-sensing digital imagery from NASA; ant distribution and interaction; scrub jay communication and caching behavior; signal variation and categorization by wrentits; division of labor and reproductive skew among paper wasp foundresses.

The San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh Reserve represents one of the last remnants of freshwater wetlands that once covered much of Orange County’s flood plain. Located in an ancient river-cut channel at the head of Newport Bay, the reserve supports a variety of wetland habitats, including freshwater marshlands, shallow ponds, and channels confined by earthen dikes. Research at San Joaquin includes: Habitat use and movements of coyotes in a Southern California urban environment, Effects of black sage on herbivore predation of purple needlegrass, Parasitoids and population ecology of the harlequin bug, Wetlands production and fluxes of methane and other gases, and Pollen analysis of San Joaquin Marsh Holocene sediment

Valentine Camp is a center for research in the high Sierra Nevada and the upper Owens Valley. The reserve lies in a glacier-carved basin in a transition zone between the sagebrush desert of the Great Basin and the coniferous forests of the high Sierra Nevada. Research includes: Fire ecology: Valentine Camp firehistory studies, stand-age analysis, and fuel-loading maps will be used to develop a fire management plan, Wetland mapping project: Identification and delineation of wetlands in Long Valley, Plant ecology: Population ecology, ecophysiology, and genetics of mountain brome grass, Avian ecology: Artificial nest boxes are used to attract house wrens for study in breeding behavior and endocrinology, and Expanded research opportunities: Studies of insects, mammals, and amphibians are conducted on the reserve and at other regional sites.

The Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino Reserve offers one of the most spectacular stretches of coastal habitats in central California. Its diverse habitats include extensive rocky shoreline, nearshore kelp forests, coastal grasslands, a mixed Monterey pine and coast live oak forest, and coastal scrub. Three registered Salinan archaeological sites on the reserve date back to 5,000 B.P. Flanking the reserve is a section of one of the largest kelp beds in California, a combination of giant kelp and bull kelp.

Set in the Santa Lucia Mountains along the Big Sur coast, the Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve encompasses several miles of rugged ridges, which flank the Pacific Ocean and descend to a rocky shoreline. Research at Landels-Hill includes: Prehistoric subsistence patterns and central coast archaeology, Long-term change in intertidal and subtidal communities, Biological diversity and ecology of Lepidoptera, including fire succession. Effects of European honey bee on native social bees. Ecology of speciation in Timema walking sticks, Marine fish populations within and adjacent to marine reserve. Baseline studies on genetics, behavior, and ecology of southern steelhead trout, and Landscape-scale modeling and surveying of plant-climate interactions. Deepcrustal geology of central California.

The Angelo Coast Range Reserve, one of the NRS’s most diverse sites, is located on the South Fork of the Eel River. Research at Angelo includes: Eel River food webs, productivity, and effects of disturbance by scouring winter floods & invasive species (bullfrogs & Sacramento squawfish) which threaten native yellow-legged frogs & native salmonids, and Effects of river productivity on terrestrial consumers addressing linkages between river communities and surrounding uplands in the old-growth forest watershed. Impacts of fine riverbed sediments on food webs supporting the growth of juvenile steelhead.

The Hastings Natural History Reservation, set in the open foothills of the Santa Lucia Mountains in upper Carmel Valley, protects excellent examples of habitats characteristic of the interior central Coast Range: annual and perennial grasslands, oak woodlands, chaparral, and running streams. Research at Hastings includes: Behavioral ecology of western bluebirds, Ecology and evolution of social behavior, Population biology of the California tiger salamander. in acorn woodpeckers, Genetics, physiology, and fitness of pocket gophers, with implications for conservation, Restoration ecology of native grasses and oak woodland, Site factors, dendrochronology, and flowering biology of California oaks, and Long-term studies of vegetation, bees, bird populations, small mammals.

The Hans Jenny Pygmy Forest Reserve lies on the oldest and highest of five wave-cut terraces that rise from the chilly waters of the Mendocino County coast. Research at the Hans Jenny Pygmy Forest Reserve includes: Landscape evolution: The pygmy forest “ecological staircase,” and Soil studies: Soil development, nutrient cycling, and vegetation-soil relations.