Search: Research Centers, Wildlife

The Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve protects a valuable remnant of coastal salt marsh habitats once common throughout Southern California estuaries. Despite major alterations to the surrounding land and water, this small, heart-shaped wetland at the northern edge of Mission Bay remains remarkably productive, providing rich intertidal habitats. Research at Kendall-Frost includes: The leptostraca of coastal California: A survey based on morphological and molecular evidence, The effect of different reproductive strategies on the genetic variation of eastern Pacific eelgrass taxa, and Final hosts (birds and mammals) as determinants of community structure of castrating trematodes in California horn snails.

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 Santa Cruz Island Reserve is the largest NRS site and the biggest of the Channel Islands located off the Southern California coast. Research at Santa Cruz Island includes: Archaeology: Ongoing studies of the island’s prehistoric Native American cultures; the evolution of cultural complexity in hunter-gatherer societies, Terrestrial botany: Defense mechanisms of insular endemic plants; age structure in island chaparral communities; population genetics of endemic species, Terrestrial zoology: Reproduction and kinship studies for two endemic species: island jay and state-threatened island fox (Urocyon littoralis), Geology and geomorphology: Structure, diversity, and origin of the island’s geological formations; fluvial system responses; sediment transport in island watersheds, and Aquatic Biology: Population studies of kelpbed fishes and selected intertidal invertebrates.

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

Located on a precipitous peninsula in one of the driest parts of the northern Coast Ranges, the Quail Ridge Reserve projects into Lake Berryessa and holds outstanding remnants of extremely rare native grassland, savanna, and oak woodland habitats. Research at Quail Ridge includes: Floral studies include effects of grazing on the evolution of plant life history; pollen loads in Clarkia unguiculata; and spatial segregation of coyote brush, Biological surveys of butterflies, rodents, reptiles, and amphibians, Ringtail home range, territory size, and density in foothill woodlands, Studies of wild turkey populations, and Lyme disease studies.

At 7,050 acres, the McLaughlin Natural Reserve is one of the NRS’s largest sites, and it is one of only a few sites in California that protects unusual serpentine habitats for research and teaching. Research at McLaughlin includes: Serpentine habitats: Dynamics and succession of serpentine chaparral; the spread of exotic grasses on serpentine, Ant studies: Ant specificity to unique isolated habitats; determinants of polymorphism and foraging strategies in ants, Host-association effect on herbivory of the Indian paintbrush species, and Ecological and evolutionary responses to habitat mosaics: integrating across spatial and temporal hierarchies of plant biodiversity

Located on part of the former Fort Ord Army Base, Fort Ord Natural Reserve supports excellent examples of maritime chaparral endemic to the Monterey Bay region. Research at Ford Ord includes: Baseline studies: Status of HMP-listed species; preliminary surveys of birds, legless lizards, coast horned lizards, ants, and habitat-use patterns, and Conservation biology: Distribution and genetic studies of the black and silver forms of the California legless lizard; survey of coast horned lizards; survey of native ants and invasive Argentine ants; research on the demographics and community ecology of sand gilia, Monterey spineflower and shrubs of the maritime chaparral; the role of change in ant biodiversity on seed dispersal; comparative genetic and morphological analysis of different and gilia populations.

Just offshore from Point Año Nuevo 74 kilometers (46 miles) south of San Francisco, the Año Nuevo Island Reserve is comprised of Miocene shale with remnant dune deposits and associated low, rocky islets and intertidal shelf. Research at Ano Nuevo includes: Northern elephant seals: effects of low-frequency sound in the marine acoustic environment; geographic-reference behavior during migrations; buoyancy and swimming effort; predator-prey relationships with white sharks; and developmental physiology of pups during natural, prolonged fasts, Population monitoring of Steller sea lions, and Conservation, demography, and foodhabits of rhinoceros auklets.