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Landels- |
Contact Information
Mark Readdie, Director
Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve
Coast Route
Big Sur, CA 93920
Phone: 831-667-2543
bigcreek@ucsc.edu |
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Location
Big Sur Coast, Monterey County, 50 mi south of Monterey; 2-hour drive
from Santa Cruz campus.
Map Quest |
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Facilities
Lab-residences; three campgrounds; visitor
cabin/lab for 6 at Whale Point; small lab/
library; 12 mi of trails; 10
mi of dirt roads; limited parking; beach
access for small boats onto marine reserve. |
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Databases
On-site geographic information system
(GIS); synoptic collections; published
surveys; computer text files for plants,
animals, cultural/ archaeological surveys;
weather data; stream monitoring and marine
fish monitoring; regional bibliographies. |
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Personnel
Resident director, two on-site stewards. |
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Size
1,584 ha (3,911 acres); additional 2,239
ha (5,528 acres) accessible by use agreement |
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Elevation
Reserve: 0 to 1,220 m (0 to 4,000 ft)
Cone Peak: 1,571 m (5,155 ft) |
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Average Precipitation
25 in. at coast; 50 in.
along upper ridges; higher on peaks |
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Average Temperatures
Lower elevations (0 to 100 ft):
January 5.5-15.8°C (42-60°F)
August 10.9-20.9°C (52-70°F)
Higher elevations (2,000+ ft):
January 6.0-14.1°C (43-57°F)
July 18.4-29.4°C (65-85°F) |
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 Transect
Articles
specific
to Big Creek |
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 Mathias
Grant Research
specific
to Big Creek |
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Site Spec Sheet (PDF) |
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<••• •••> |
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Hill Big Creek Reserve |
Established in 1977 |
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| Big Creek Website |
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 Set in the Santa Lucia Mountains along the Big Sur coast, the Landels-Hill Big
Creek Reserve encompasses several miles of rugged ridges, which flank the
Pacific Ocean and descend to a rocky shoreline. From there, the reserve extends
approximately one mile offshore into the Big Creek State Marine Reserve. Extremes
in topographic and vegetative diversity at this site range from kelp forests and flat
and rocky ocean-bottom habitats reaching 100 meters in depth to multiple upland
habitats: coastal scrub, redwood forest, coastal grasslands, oak woodlands, and pine-oak
forest and woodlands. The reserve also protects perennial streams and the lower
portions of a remote, pristine watershed, which supports a significant run of
southern steelhead trout. Big Creek flows strongly year round, even during drought
years, and its different forks have unique mineralogical regimes. The region’s active
tectonic history has produced a wealth of rock formations, complex geological
faults, and dozens of springs, some of which are warm. Part of the California Coast
Ranges Biosphere Reserve Cluster under the United Nations Scientific, Educational,
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve
is protected by The Nature Conservancy (TNC). |
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Big Sur Skiff Fishing Survey
Cooperative
project involving local fishermen
provides data on status of kelpforest
fishery and fish populations.
Santa Lucia Natural History Symposium
Gathering of researchers who
conduct field work in the region.
Big Creek water-quality monitoring: Periodic monitoring of Big Creek, including
bacterial counts, stream insects,
and other parameters. |
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Selected Research
• Prehistoric subsistence patterns and central
coast archaeology.
• Long-term change in intertidal and
subtidal communities.
• Biological diversity and ecology of Lepidoptera,
including fire succession. Effects
of European honey bee on native
social bees. Ecology of speciation in
Timema walking sticks.
• Marine fish populations within and
adjacent to marine reserve. Baseline
studies on genetics, behavior, and ecology
of southern steelhead trout.
• Landscape-scale modeling and surveying
of plant-climate interactions. Deepcrustal
geology of central California.
Special Research of National Significance
• PISCO (Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans): Large-scale marine science research program that focuses on understanding the nearshore ecosystems of the U.S. West Coast and involves collaborating scientists from four universities. PISCO researchers at COPR monitor rocky intertidal and ocean currents using a CODAR antenna. (detailed description...) |
Photo Gallery 
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