• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

UCNRS

University of California Natural Reserve System

  • Reserves
  • Research
  • Teaching
  • Public Service
  • Information
  • NRS Giving

Quail Ridge Reserve

Quail Ridge
Quail Ridge Reserve/photo by Lobsang Wangdu

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. The near-pristine understory is relatively free of introduced annuals and includes remaining strongholds of native grasses, including purple needlegrass, junegrass, California oniongrass, and California fescue. These native grasses are a remnant of a savanna that once covered an area the size of Nevada. The woodlands harbor a diverse mix of oak species, such as valley, interior live, blue, black, and scrub oak along with numerous hybrids, including oracle oak.

High and rugged Quail Ridge (formerly Wragg Ridge) first became a peninsula in 1958 with the flooding of Lake Berryessa after construction of the Monticello Dam. The consequent isolation of the ridge, now a peninsula, is in large part what has kept the habitat relatively uninvaded by weeds. Together with two other NRS sites, McLaughlin Natural Reserve and Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve, plus UC Davis’s Putah Creek Campus Reserve, Quail Ridge represent an important link in a series of protected lands in the Putah Creek watershed.

Field Courses

Site visits by university courses in wildlife field techniques, California insect diversity, geology field studies, botany, and others.

Public Outreach

Volunteers from Quail Ridge Wilderness Conservancy offer interpretive walks and environmental education programs for local elementary and secondary schools.

Quail Ridge Reserve 1

Selected Research

  • 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.
  • Lyme disease studies.

Contact Information

Shane Waddell
Reserve Manager
John Muir Institute of the Environment/NRS
The Barn, UC Davis
Davis, CA 95616
Phone: 530-754-7108
Fax: 530-752-3350
smwaddell@ucdavis.edu
Quail Ridge Reserve website

 

Location

Napa County, on a southern peninsula of Lake Berryessa; 45 minute drive from the Davis campus.

 

Facilities

Several overnight options are available for small groups or solo researchers. The field station includes a laboratory/workspace. Camping areas are available for class use.

Reserve bibliography

The reserve bibliography includes citations of journal articles, books, theses, art, and other works published about or based on activities conducted at the reserve.

 

Databases

Plant List
Natural history handbook with species lists; meteorological; GIS layers; herpetological arrays.

 

Personnel

Resident reserve director

 

Size

1,010 hectares (2,500 acres)

 

Elevation

134 to 462 m (440 to 1,516 ft.)

Average Precipitation

62 cm (24 in.) per year.

Average Temperatures

January: 8 ºC (46 ºF)
July: 28 ºC (82 ºF)

frog fungus
Imani Russell sweeps a pond at Quail Ridge Reserve in search of frogs to sample. Image credit: Lobsang Wangdu
Quail Ridge
Quail Ridge
Quail Ridge: Shane Waddell

Footer

Our work

Reserves
Research
Teaching
Public Service

About Us

Mission
History
Land Acknowledgement
News
Information
Jobs
Contact

Give

Donate Now

For Staff

Resources
Login

Find Us on Social Media

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

1111 Franklin Street, Oakland CA 94607

© 2021 UCNRS · All Rights Reserved · Contact · Privacy Policy