| |
|
 |
Jepson |
Contact Information
Virginia L. (“Shorty”) Boucher
Reserve Manager, UCD NRS
DESP / Wickson Hall
University of California
Davis, CA 95616
Phone: 530-752-6949
Fax: 530-752-3350
vlboucher@ucdavis.edu |
| |
Location
Solano County, 12 mi S of
Dixon on Highway 113; 45 minutes
southwest of Sacramento; 1.5 hours
northeast of San Francisco off Interstate
80; 25 minutes from Davis campus. Map Quest |
| |
Facilities
None; this site best suited for day use. |
| |
Databases
Geographic information system (GIS)
aids management of sensitive plants and
animals; complete floral and faunal lists
in Jepson Prairie Handbook. |
| |
Personnel
Roving staff reserve manager; no on-site
personnel. |
| |
Size
634 ha (1,566 acres) |
| |
Elevation
2 to 8 m (5 to 25 ft) |
| |
Average Precipitation
43 - 52 cm (17 - 20 in) per year |
| |
Average Temperatures
January: 8°C (46°F)
July: 31°C (87°F) |
| |
 Transect
Articles
specific
to Jepson |
| |
 Mathias
Grant Research
specific
to Jepson |
| |
Site Spec Sheet (PDF) |
|
|
<••• •••> |
|
Prairie Reserve |
Established in 1983
|
|
|
Jepson Website |
| |
 Photo Gallery
|
|
| |
Located in the southern Sacramento Valley, the Jepson Prairie Reserve is an island of remnant natural prairie in a wide alluvial floodplain used primarily for agriculture. The reserve protects one of the best few remaining vernal-pool habitats, which are found only in the western United States and few other places in the world, as well as precious remnants of native bunchgrass prairie that once covered one-fourth of California. As Olcott Lake and other large vernal pools evaporate each spring, millions of native wildflowers bloom around them, forming concentric rings of yellow, white, and blue. Many plant and animal species found on site are endemic to vernal-pool habitats, including three listed shrimp species. The site itself provides the only known home for the federally threatened delta green ground beetle and federally and state-endangered Solano grass. Altogether, over 400 species and 64 families of plants, including 15 rare and endangered plants, are found on site, notably dwarf downingia, federal proposed-threatened and state-endangered Colusa grass, and federal-candidates delta tule pea and fragrant fritillary. Two sloughs flow across corners of the site, providing year-round habitat for a variety of wildlife, including beaver, otter, waterfowl, and several threatened fish species. The reserve land is owned by the Solano Land Trust (SLT), and protected by SLT and The Nature Conservancy (TNC); UC assists in the management of this site. The reserve is named in memory of pioneering botanist Willis Linn Jepson, a Solano County native. |
|
| |
Selected Research
• Amphibian decline in California.
• Nesting biology of bees.
• Systematics of the genus Downingia.
• Spatial structure and plant-pollinator interactions.
• Effects of controlled burning of native bunchgrasses. |
Docents Program
Fifty UC Davis-trained docents hold an annual open house and lead reserve tours from early March to mid-May; contact SCFOSF: 707-421-1351 (for docents, call: Kate Mawdsley 530-758-5093.)
|
|
|
