Summer 2022 - Natural Reserve System

Poison oak is known for both causing painful skin rashes and growing in a wide variety of forms. This phenotypic plasticity allows poison oak to flourish under the varied environmental conditions found across its range. Some plant species increase the density and reduce the size of their stomata, or leaf pores, in response to water stress. Research studying these characteristics in poison oak was done at Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve by students of the Summer 2022 California Ecology and Conservation program. The image shows a stomatal peel, an imprint of the microscopic topography of a poison oak leaf surface. Image credit: Sabina Javier.

Mastocarpus papillatus and Porphyra lanceolata differ in stress-induced bleaching depending on morphological factors
Deirdre Fadler, Adrian Fontao, Ximena Verduzco-Villanueva, Xiaoyan Zhang

Aerial insect abundance predicts Myotis bat habitat use along streams
Ariana Brisco Schofield, Tazlina Dentinger, Richard Klein, Brandi Sanchez

Post-fire changes to vegetation and herbivory patterns in shrub-grassland interface
Kt Lynch, Seth Tantuico, Isabel Guitteau, Rachel Brown

Morphological variation of Toxicodendron diversilobum across forest and chaparral habitats
Zoe Douglas, Sabina Javier, Taylor Morales, Aida Pourya

Attraction or distraction: Proximity effects of invasive shortpod mustard (Hirschfeldia incana) on the pollination of California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) and wooly sunflower (Eriophyllum staechadifolium)
Rachel J. Harris, Xinyi Qiu, and Katherine Battaglia

Spider distributions on Sequoia sempervirens are unaffected by burn intensity two years after fire
Sophie Benefiel, Roman Garzelloni, Joseph Kesler

Burn severity and community structure affect tanoak and California bay laurel regrowth
Gabriella Bates, Gabrielle Cohen, Perla Martos, Isabella Segarra