by Jim Logan, UC Santa Barbara As one of the most experienced archaeologists studying California’s Native Americans, Lynn Gamble knew the Chumash Indians of Central California had been using shell beads as money for at least 800 years. But an exhaustive review of some of the shell bead record led UC Santa Barbara professor emerita of anthropology to an […]
Santa Cruz Island Reserve
2020-21 Mathias Grant recipients
Most people will be staying close to home in 2021 due to the pandemic. UC Santa Barbara graduate student Samantha Sambado will not be among them. Her doctoral research will take her on multiple journeys up and down California, in search of ticks and the human pathogens they carry. “Ticks are the number one vector […]
Watching wildlife with help from AI
Trail cameras have become essential tools for environmental monitoring. Relatively inexpensive, and easy to operate, they enable scientists to spot local wildlife, observe animal behaviors, and even occasionally uncover the presence of rare species. At the 41 reserves of the University of California Natural Reserve System, a network of protected lands enabling study of the […]
California Heartbeat Initiative soars ahead
A University of California project to study the availability of water in California’s ecosystems is off to a soaring start. The California Heartbeat Initiative (CHI) uses drones, sap flow meters, and other remote sensing techniques to monitor the water status of plants across large swaths of the landscape. The project aims to interpret water status […]
Disease caused catastrophic sea star declines
by Julie Cohen, UC Santa Barbara Five years ago, a mysterious disease began crippling sea star populations along the West Coast. Many sea star species died in record-breaking numbers over a short period of time, and a keystone known as the ochre sea star (Pisaster ochraceus) was among the hardest hit. The outbreak extended from […]
Archiving NRS history
Peter Alagona’s Natural Reserve System History & Archive Project is working to preserve historical materials from UC reserves statewide By Shelly Leachman, UC Santa Barbara Say you’re an ecologist studying the biodiversity of plant communities on a coastal nature preserve. If you knew the land had once been used for ranching and agriculture, would it […]
Refuges against rising ocean acidification
Ocean acidification widespread in the California current, but pockets of protection exist By Shelly Leachman, UC Santa Barbara First, the bad news: New data reveals that acidified ocean water is pervasive along the West Coast — and is likely to keep spreading. So what’s the good news? Persistent, less-acidic havens in some regions may be […]
Testing rangeland change with the tools of history
The first European settlers to set foot on California soil didn’t arrive alone. Clattering behind the sandals and boots of the Spanish missionaries were the hooves of their cattle and sheep. Over the next few centuries, the number of imported livestock grazing California rangelands swelled into the millions. The hungry mouths and trampling feet of […]