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McLaughlin |
Contact Information
Paul Aigner and Cathy Koehler
Resident Directors
McLaughlin Reserve
26775 Morgan Valley Road
Lower Lake, CA 95457
Phone: 707-995-9005
mclaughlin@ucdavis.edu |
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Location
Napa, Lake, and Yolo Counties,
northwest of Davis; two-hours from
Davis campus. See Map Quest |
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Facilities
Station with 6 bunkrooms (23 bed capacity), classroom, dry-lab space, kitchen, and dining area, internet connection, some storage space, and camping area outside. |
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Databases
Natural History Handbook with species
lists; meteorological, air quality, water
quality, and aquatic ecology databases
available in various formats. |
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Personnel
One Resident Director position (shared by Paul and Cathy) and one Reserve Steward (Rhett Woerly). |
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Size
2,800 ha (7,050 acres) |
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Elevation
366 - 732 m (1,200 - 2,400 ft) |
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Average Precipitation
62 cm (24 in) per year |
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Average Temperatures
July: 25°C (77°F)
January: 8°C (46°F) |
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 Transect
Articles
specific to McLaughlin |
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 Mathias
Grant Research
specific to McLaughlin |
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Site Spec Sheet (PDF) |
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<••• •••> |
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Natural Reserve |
Established in 1992 |
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| McLaughlin Website |
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 At 2,800 hectares (7,050 acres), the McLaughlin Natural Reserve is one of the
NRS’s largest sites, and it is one of only a few sites in California that protects
unusual serpentine habitats for research and teaching. The McLaughlin Reserve
encompasses several geologic formations, two watersheds (Putah and Cache Creeks),
and a variety of vegetation that includes oak woodlands, nonserpentine chaparral,
serpentine chaparral, and grasslands. Overlain on this natural diversity is a mosaic
of human land-use, yielding grazed and ungrazed grasslands, relatively pristine
habitats, and reclaimed mining areas. Surrounding the reserve are 30,000 hectares
(75,000 acres) of accessible public land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land
Management (BLM). |
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Baseline data
The Homestake Mining
Company has collected baseline
data on the site’s geology, soils, hydrology,
air and water quality, archaeology,
and terrestrial and aquatic ecology;
ongoing environmental monitoring
adds to the computer database. Field courses
The site is visited by
university courses in plant ecology, California
floristics, geology, and creative
writing.
Expanded facilities
Establishment of
the reserve as an environmental-research
field station is part of the long-term
reclamation plan for the gold mine.
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 Selected Research
• Serpentine habitats: Dynamics and succession
of serpentine chaparral; the
spread of exotic grasses on serpentine.
• Ant studies: Ant specificity to unique
isolated habitats; determinants of polymorphism
and foraging strategies in ants.
• Host-association effect on herbivory of
the Indian paintbrush species.
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Ecological and evolutionary responses
to habitat mosaics: integrating across
spatial and temporal hierarchies of plant
biodiversity. |
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