by David Colgan, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, UC Los Angeles Like many high schoolers, Tai Michaels has plenty of hobbies. He runs cross country. He’s on the speech and debate team. He struggles with Spanish class at times. His favorite band is The Killers. He’s also doing scientific research to protect Southern California […]
News
NRS researcher Susan Harrison elected to National Academy of Sciences
By John Stumbos, UC Davis Susan Harrison, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Environmental Science and Policy, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors a scientist can receive. As an ecologist, Harrison studies the processes that shape and maintain plant species diversity at the landscape scale. […]
Online tool maps reserve species records
Every reserve in the UC Natural Reserve System comes with its own small universe of biological information. When scientists and other visitors collect reserve plants and animals to study, they also record the date, the exact location where it was found, and more information. The specimen may then get deposited in a museum, while […]
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 […]
Hidden ‘rock moisture’ may be key to tree survival during drought
by Robert Sanders, UC Berkeley An oft-neglected layer of weathered rock underlying the soil on hillslopes could be a significant reservoir for water, providing critical moisture for trees during droughts, according to a new study by scientists from UC Berkeley and the University of Texas at Austin. William Dietrich, a professor of earth and planetary […]
Tracking data reveals common patterns in marine animal travels
by Tim Stephens, UC Santa Cruz The movements of marine mammals and other large animals that spend their lives in the ocean were largely unknown prior to the development of sophisticated tracking devices researchers could deploy on animals in the wild. Insights gained from this technology have revealed unexpected behaviors and migratory patterns in marine […]
Ancient storm flooding evidence reveals future vulnerabilities
by Julie Cohen, UC Santa Barbara Flooding isn’t new to the Santa Barbara coastline. However, the inundation doesn’t always come from the mountains as it did last month in Montecito. Back in 1861-2, a series of large storms washed beach sand more than a quarter mile inland into what is known today as Carpinteria Salt […]
Mudflows make Carpinteria Salt Marsh a study in recovery
by Shelly Leachman, UC Santa Barbara On a normal winter day, at high tide, the water in the channels that wend from the Pacific Ocean through Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve is about four to six feet deep. But after the massive Thomas Fire and subsequent mudslide, the marsh has experienced few “normal” days this season. In several […]