Annual Highlights

2001-2002 I 2000-2001 I1999-2000I 1998-1999I 1997-1998 | 1996-1997 | 1995-1996 | 1994-1995 | 1993-1994

2001-2002 Annual Highlights

Administration and Facilities
Activities associated with Administration and Facilities infrastructure were fairly routine this year. The highlight was that in late spring we finally received our Coastal Commission permit for the intermediate antenna installation for the microwave link between the UCSB campus and the island field station. After several frustrating years we completed the linkup in June and finally had an Internet connection at the Reserve. We expect to be working the bugs out of the system in the next few months. Staff from the UCSB Communications Services have greatly helped with this project . This was funded by a NSF Biological Field Stations Facility Improvement Grant with matching funds from UCSB Office of Research and the Systemwide NRS-UCOP office.

Research
The scope of Research activities for this year can be seen from the diversity of projects listed in Part 4: Current Research. A continuing priority has been to increase the integration of research projects into resource management information, decisions, and activities for the island. An outstanding example from SCIR of the important role research plays in resource management can be found in the article in the Summer 2002 issue of the NRS newsletter “Transect.” This nicely interprets the role of research in the island fox-golden eagle-feral pig interactions. The NRS website http://nrs.ucop.edu has the article on-line.

Other research projects with significant management implications included:
1) the feral honey bee eradication project by Dr. Adrian Wenner, UCSB, which is down to one “weak “ hive located in just north and east of the main ranch in the central valley.
2) the final year of field data gathering for the large fennel eradication test site in the central valley by faculty from UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, and San Jose State University
3) the long-term island jay population study by Dr. Charles Collins of California State University Long Beach.
4) the PISCO project study of recruitment and settlement of organisms in the intertidal by Dr.Steve Gaines of UCSB, Dr. Pete Raimondi of UCSC, and Dr. Bruce Menge of Oregon State University

Instructional Use
A diversity of higher education institutions continue to use SCIR for education and class instruction. This can be seen in Part 2: Users’ Affiliations. Several groups have traveled considerable distances to visit the island.

As with research activities we are trying to integrate class activities into resource management concerns. Students from UC Santa Cruz, Lewis and Clark College, and Whittier College assisted with vegetation monitoring transects. Students from UCSB and Orange Coast College assisted with exotic plant removal.

Resource Management and Stewardship
Applied Resource Management and Stewardship activities were also supported by
SCIR resources and staff, especially this past spring. These were projects funded by and conducted in most part by CINP and /or TNC staff. SCIR support was mostly in the form of housing, vehicles, and staff assistance.

The primary efforts were those associated with the fox population decline and the golden eagle relocation. The current best estimate is that there are about 100 foxes in the wild on Santa Cruz Island. There are 5 pairs in captivity on Santa Cruz Island and one pair had one litter of 5 pups this past season. Three of the pups were just turned loose this past week.

In the late spring UC Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research group removed two more golden eagles (one adult male of a nesting pair and one nestling). The female managed to escape the netting attempt. Two NPS-led helicopter netting capture efforts in June and again in October were unsuccessful at capturing more Golden Eagles. The currant estimate is that 5-7 golden eagles still hunt around Santa Cruz Island.

Other Resource Management efforts supported included:
1) the Vegetation Inventory project conducted by Dr. Kathryn McEachern of the USGS-BRD Channel Islands Field Station,
2) the soil survey and inventory conducted by the Dan Johnson of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Reserve staff and an outstanding cadre of dedicated helpers continue to work on exotic plant eradication projects. In the case of a few species such as hemlock and tamarisk we have made a significant decrease in their presence on the island.

Public Service
As can be seen from the Part 1: Use Data, this year had a lot of public outreach activity. A highlight was the Jason XIV Project teacher workshop that visited the island in the spring. The 2003 focus for the Jason Project is on the Channel Islands. The live-to classrooms and Internet broadcast is scheduled to be in late January or early February. Santa
Barbara Channel and Island researchers will be joined by staff from Channel Islands National Park and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary in these live information and discussion presentations.

Local institutions and organizations that used the reserve included the Student mentoring program from Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, classes from Santa Barbara Botanic Garden and classes from Dos Pueblos High School, Cleveland School and Crane Country Day School.

Outreach activities supporting resource management efforts included use by Channel Islands National Park, TNC staff, Paso Robles High School, Dos Pueblos High School, Los Prietos Boys Camp, and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary

2000-2001 Annual Highlights
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One event occurred during this reporting period that will have consequences across all aspects of UC’s SCIR activities on Santa Cruz Island. This was the finalization of The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) gifting of a portion of their island property to Channel Islands National Park. In August this conveyance was completed with the result that SCIR was reduced in size by 8,500 acres. The dedication ceremony was held August 23 on the island at Prisoners’ Harbor. About 30 people attended including aides to Senator Feinstein and Congresswomen Capps. Congressman Gallegly of Simi Valley was there as was former Congressman Lagomarsino, who authored the bill creating Channel Islands National Park (CINP). CINP Superintendent Setnicka and other park staff attended as did TNC staff and SCIR Director Laughrin.

SCIR researchers, classes, visitors, and its programs will continue to have access to new National Park portion of the island but under NPS management their will be additional permitting protocols especially for such activities as collecting and sampling, instrumentation siting, or habitat manipulation studies.

Overall use of the Reserve was high this year. The total number of visitors was 743 and they were on the Reserve for 3648 person-days. That use was broken down by Research, 114 persons for 950 person-days; University-level instruction, 223 persons for 1260 person-days; and Public Service, 406 persons for 1438 person-days.

ADMINISTRATION
The project to provide Internet connection between the Reserve and the UCSB campus progressed slowly this year. Discussions with UCSB Communications Services and the equipment providers, as well as a site visit resolved what equipment will be used allowing us to move forward in the approval process with TNC and the California Coastal Commission. We anticipate successful completion of this project early in the coming year.

In April, the Reserve hosted a visit to the reserve by new Associate Director of UC NRS Chen-Yin Noah, She was accompanied by Louise Moore of UCSB’s Office of Research, and Dr. Henry Offen, UCSB Campus NRS Director; In May, SCIR Director Lyndal Laughrin conducted a one day tour of the Reserve facilities and the island for several California Coastal Commission commissioners, Commission staff and other invited persons,

Reserve steward, Brian Guerrero, and assistant Keith Herold, started installation of a solar water heating system for the station’s hot water supply. Brian and Keith also supervised and assisted a Los Prietos Boys Camp group of 14 for a weekend in December. They worked on the gabion system being repaired that protects the eroding stream bank below the station buildings.

This past October we lost the services of Reserve assistant steward Jeff Howarth as he entered the Ph.D. program in the UCSB Geography Department. His advisor is Dr. L. Mertes and his project deals with human use, agricultural activity and impacts upon natural resources in historic times on Santa Cruz Island. He will have limited time to work for the Reserve and will be greatly missed.

RESEARCH
There continues to be a great diversity in the types of projects and discipline areas for island researchers as can be seen in the Current Research listings.We encourage researchers to make connections between their efforts and management needs. Several imminent management programs to be implemented on the island offer great potential for research questions as well as opportunities for evaluating resource management strategies. These will be feral pig eradication program and the extensive prescribed burn project for fennel control in a coastal sage/grassland habitat. It is hoped that the academic community will take advantage of this opportunity.

UNIVERSITY-LEVEL INSTRUCTION
University/college level instruction programs using the Reserve continue to come from a diversity of institutions as seen in the Instructional Groups listing.

The UC Systemwide NRS program initiated a program for high school teachers called “Hands on for School Teachers” or “HOST” for science training at field sites. SCIR was one of 6 NRS sites to participate in this first year. We hosted a Carson High School biology teacher, Farr Niere. He spent 2 weeks in July interacting with Reserve researchers, learning about the island and producing a pilot study plan related to the Reserve. He brought 2 of his students to the island in October for a trial run through the plan.

STEWARDSHIP
The following resource management and stewardship activities were supported and facilitated by Reserve staff and/or facilities.

The UCSB Habitat Restoration group continued invasive plant species eradication. They worked on eucalyptus, acacia, tamarisk and iceplant during fall, spring and early summer trips. Volunteer, Duke McPherson continues to work on removing acacia, eucalyptus and rice grass. A class from Orange Coast Community College assisted him in the fall.

As part of the ongoing efforts to conserve the island fox on the northern Channel Islands, the UCSC Predatory Bird Research group did a survey for golden eagles and set up a capture and relocation program to reduce predation pressure on the foxes. As of the end of June, 17 adults and 1 nestling had been removed from the island. This will be an ongoing effort as some eagles continue to move out to the islands.

An assessment of the fox population was funded by TNC via a donation from British Petroleum Company. This work was started in January by the Institute for Wildlife Studies and will continue for the next year.

TNC staff used the station during December while doing pig eradication at selective rare plant sites. As part of the effort to protect archaeological sites from feral pig disturbance, Channel Island National Park archaeologist Don Morris and crew fenced two sites in the southwest portion of the island.

The Reserve Director participated on the review panel for the vegetation monitoring program for Channel Islands National Park. He also participated in a December workshop to integrate and coordinate the Park’s vegetation and landbird monitoring protocols. He continues to be a member of the island fox recovery and conservation group.

PUBLIC SERVICE
Visitors from the agencies, organizations, groups and K-12 schools listed in the Affiliations section used the Reserve for activities this past year. Most visits were for several days and nights. Highlights included a planning workshop for the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, the teen mentoring program “Quasars to Seastars” of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, and the youth environmental education programs conducted by the Wilderness Outdoor Leadership Foundation.

 

1999-2000 Annual Highlights
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Noteworthy Administrative accomplishments during 1999-00 include negotiating and completing two new agreements with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and one with TNC and Channel Islands National Park (CINP). The TNC agreements were to give Santa Cruz Island Reserve (SCIR) use and responsibility for their cabin complex to the west of the field station and for installation of a GPS (Geographical Position System) base station on Diablo Peak. The cabins will give the station added bunk and kitchen space and increased flexibility in user scheduling. The GPS station, on the island’s highest point, will be part of the Southern California Integrated GPS Network, which is operated by a consortium of institutions (Dr. Bruce Luyendyk of UCSB Geological Sciences is a co-PI). Data from this station can be made available to other researchers.

A three-way Memorandum of Understanding between UC, TNC and CINP was completed that, through a collaborative effort, will promote research, education, and wise management of the resources of Santa Cruz Island and the Channel Islands ecosystem. This agreement has a five-year term and all parties envision a long-term cooperative relationship.

SCIR’s role in Stewardship activities on the island continue to evolve and grow as changes occur within other agencies involved with the island. During 1999-00 TNC eliminated their stewardship ecologist for the island. Projects and personnel associated with TNC’s continuing resource management efforts are now logistically supported by SCIR. The long-term monitoring efforts associated with the fennel eradication experiment in the central valley and the monitoring in the prescribed burn area in the island’s southwest section are now using SCIR facilities. Adding the TNC cabins to the Reserve facilities greatly enhances this role.

An increased presence of the resource management staff of CINP is occurring and when working on TNC land they are housed at the UC Field Station. CINP projects utilizing station facilities included: the pig eradication/fennel burn planning group, the southwest prescribed fire crew, the marine intertidal monitoring group, and the pig exclosure fences for midden sites crew. More CINP involvement will undoubtedly occur as the process of transferring ownership of the isthmus section from TNC to CINP continues to move forward.

Reserve staff have also increased their involvement in management activities. For example, L. Laughrin now organizes and leads the breeding and winter bird surveys and some of the vegetation monitoring. The UC Santa Barbara Habitat Restoration club conducts ongoing exotic plant species eradication projects. Dr. Laughrin has participated in several CINP resource management workshops and meetings on the following topics: exotic plant species, Channel Islands cultural and natural resources, inventory and monitoring of plants and vertebrates. He is also a member of the island fox recovery planning group.

As mentioned above, incorporation of researchers and/or their data into stewardship is an increased priority. Reserve researcher, Gary Roemer of UC Los Angeles (Ph.D. project, which he received in 2000) documented the recent decline in the island fox population and determined the primary cause to be golden eagle predation. This led to CINP initiating a captive breeding program on Santa Rosa and San Miguel islands and having the UC Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group capture and translocate the eagles. Working through SCIR and based at the field station, they removed 13 eagles from December 1999 to June 2000. This effort will continue in the coming year.

Research conducted on SCIR accounted for 29 presentations at the Fifth California Islands Symposium. This latest periodic convening of island researchers was held March 29-April 1, 1999 at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and was sponsored by the Minerals Management Service of US Department of Interior. Some 43 research projects based out of SCIR were active during this report period. Three MA thesis projects and two PhD dissertation projects were completed.

Increasing the integration of research into resource management has become one of the Reserve’s objectives. Dr. Laughrin generated funds for two projects in this regard. Funding from the Santa Cruz Island Foundation was received to investigate the role of historic agricultural activities on the island’s natural resources and vice versa, and how the resources constrained human activities on the island. Jeff Howarth is the principal investigator on this project. He will start a Ph.D. graduate program in the UCSB Geography department in Fall of 2000 using this as his dissertation research focus. The Clorox Corporation funded a project to determine the distribution of non-native argentine ants and their impact upon the island’s native ants. Emily Hebard of SCIR and Nicole Heller of Stanford University are the investigators. Both projects have resource management implications for the island.

The Education Program on SCIR included a diverse spectrum of higher education institutions and disciplines visiting the reserve for class field trips. These included, but were not limited to, classes from UC Santa Barbara and UC Los Angeles as well as Pasadena City College and Los Angeles Valley College. The classes focused on disciplines such as geology, archaeology, and terrestrial and marine biology.

In addition, significant time and course content for several classes were based upon use of SCIR. These included summer archaeology field school for UC Los Angeles, Marine Biology Quarter for UC Los Angeles, summer field geology school for UC Santa Barbara, and Natural History Field Quarter for UC Santa Cruz. The Jepson Herbarium of UC Berkeley also conducted one of its botanical workshops at SCIR. The University of Glamorgan of Wales, UK conducted a course in anthropology/cultural geography in summer of 1999.

Public outreach support included hosting visits from the sixth grade of the Crane School of Santa Barbara, Blanche Reynolds Elementary School of Ventura, the Multimedia Academy of Santa Barbara High School, advanced chemistry class of Dos Pueblos High School, and a natural history class from Paso Robles High School. The latter two groups are repeating visitors and conduct projects that aid resource management. The Dos Pueblos class does water quality sampling and testing and the Paso Robles group does vegetation monitoring and insect sampling for the fennel management program.

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History brought a group to the island from its high school science-mentoring program. Santa Barbara Botanic Garden conducted one of its natural history excursions at SCIR. NOAA’s Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary held one of its Science Advisory Group’s management plan revision workshops at SCIR. We participated in the UCSB NRS’s cooperative class with Santa Barbara City College’s Adult Education program about the reserve system. The SCIR field trip part of the course filled to capacity (45) and had a waiting list of 90 others.
 

1998-1999 Annual Highlights
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Yes, El Niño found Santa Cruz Island! However, even with 43 inches of rain recorded this year, it was only the fourth highest year on record. The highest recorded rainfall since 1904 occurred during the 1940-41 season with 56 inches. This year, however, was certainly the longest rainy season in the resident director’s 33 years on the island, and monthly totals for December were the second highest and for February were the highest on record. Fortunately, no structural damage occurred to University of California (UC) or Nature Conservancy (TNC) facilities. Road problems were modest, although the late rains kept delaying road repairs. January, 1995, rains caused more road damage than this season’s storms.

A major facility modification this year was the conversion to a photovoltaic generated electrical system. A new 30 kva solar system now supplies electrical power to TNC’s main ranch, the UC field station and the TNC/UC shared water pumping system. The solar panel array is backed up by two new diesel generators. A new, and separate, 8 kva photovoltaic system powers the reserve director’s residence. Many this system’s components for the director’s residence were obtained through the federal surplus program.

A Coastal Commission permit was finally obtained for the Database Center building, one of several buildings donated to the reserve by the Navy. It has now been moved into place and is being renovated and furnished by our steward, Brian Guerrero, and our reserve assistant, Jeff Howarth. The modular building that will serve as Brian’s quarters has also been moved to its designated site.

Relationships with other island stakeholders are changing. Travel and the transport of supplies and materials to and from the island have become more costly and/or time consuming due to the downsizing of the Navy program at the island. The increased presence of the Channel Islands National Park (CINP), and the future relationships among the UC, TNC, and the CINP, as well as between TNC and the CINP, are of great concern. An ad hoc committee of the UCSB NRS Advisory Committee spent much time considering the future of these relationships, surveying research and faculty users of the reserve, and ultimately preparing position papers describing what the UC needs to fulfill its mission on the island and where the UC can assist TNC and the CINP in fulfilling their missions. These papers were submitted to the UC systemwide NRS office in preparation for discussions with TNC staff at the California Regional Office in San Francisco. The next step will be a meeting with TNC and the CINP to begin working out a formal agreement.

A priority this year has been increasing our involvement in with resource management research and activities. Students in the UCSB Habitat Restoration Club made several trips to the island and continued eradication efforts on exotic woody species. They also cut a fire line for some of the TNC-led prescribed burning projects. Dr. S. Gliessman of UC Santa Cruz continues to pursue research on fennel management strategies and their consequences. As part of the evaluation of fennel management, TNC conducted a large scale burn and spray program in the island’s central valley this year. Approximately 800 acres were burned in early November, 1997, to remove as much above ground biomass as possible. Then, in May, 1998, the area was aerial sprayed via helicopter with Garlon, a synthetic herbicide. Earlier, small scale experiments indicated that a suitable concentration of this chemical applied on emergent fennel foliage offered the best method of killing fennel. A five-year funded investigation of the results includes several UC faculty and TNC staff as co-investigators. These include Drs. M. Rejmanek and R. Thorp of UC Davis and Dr. S. Gliessman of UC Santa Cruz.

Dr. Laughrin, the reserve director, is devoting more time to resource management. He has increased his involvement in some of the monitoring programs that TNC has implemented and is coordinating others, especially those related to fire management. He obtained funding for two resource management projects. Jeff Howarth will conduct one of the projects, which incorporates maps and associated information about the island’s historical agricultural activities into the Channel Islands’ GIS database. Emily Hebard will conduct the other project on the newly discovered argentine ant invasion. She will conduct a pilot study to survey the extent of the invasion and outline preliminary eradication efforts.

Long-term research programs over the years have produced, and in many instances still are producing, information of value for management of the island’s resources. The following list details examples of these research programs by , ,  and

 

1997-1998 Annual Highlights
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1996-1997 Highlights
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"A period of change" would be an apt characterization of the past year on Santa Cruz Island. As a result of downsizing operations on Santa Cruz Island, the U. S. Navy ceased their free boat transportation support to and from the island effective December 31, 1996. This truly was the end of an era. Most travel is now via commercial air or boat charter. To offset the added cost of using the reserve, the NRS Systemwide Office generously supported a Santa Cruz Island Reserve (SCIR) Travel Fund to which the UCSB Foundation and the Santa Cruz Island Foundation each contributed matching funds. This will enable us to provide travel stipends to UC graduate and undergraduate students.

The Nature Conservancy's annual national workshop on ecological burning was held on Santa Cruz Island from November 5 to 13, 1996. Conducted by TNC's Fire Management and Research Program of the Tall Timbers Research Station in Tallahassee Florida, the program was jointly hosted by TNC's Santa Cruz Island Preserve, UC NRS Santa Cruz Island Reserve, and Channel Islands National Park. The 36 participants included TNC and UC SCIR staff, as well as many individuals from a diversity of organizations and agencies from around the country. Dr. Lyndal Laughrin, the UC SCIR reserve director, served as one of the resource personnel for the workshop. The objectives of the workshop were 1) to provide training to qualify fire leaders that are capable of accomplishing safe and ecologically effective prescribed burns, and 2) to gain an understanding of the ecological objectives behind fire management programs and how these objectives have to be framed because of fire control, air quality, and liability considerations. Field exercises were under the supervision of Channel Islands National Park's Fire Management Officer. One exercise added another large section (800 acres) of coastal sage/island maritime scrub and grassland to the mosaic of ongoing research burning (now in 4th year) in the island's southwest area. This mosaic of four large areas of differing times since fire impact offers researchers and resource managers opportunities for analyses of insular vegetation and fire relationships.

An additional aspect of the Navy's continued downsizing of island operations has been their conversion to photovoltaic generated power. In addition to the system at their site, they have been assisting The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the SCIR to convert to a similar system. The planning stage was completed this past year with installation and startup scheduled for late fall of 1997.

The National Park Service (NPS), through condemnation, finally acquired and took control of the east end of Santa Cruz Island on February 10, 1997. As this will have consequences for TNC and SCIR programs, we have begun meeting with TNC and NPS staff to explore future relationships, which include the possibility of SCIR becoming more involved in resource management and establishing more resource management programs. One successful program has been exotic plant eradication. To date, the UCSB Habitat Restoration Club, UCSB biology honors students, and researchers from Santa Barbara Botanic Garden have worked with reserve staff to remove approximately 900 individuals of four woody plant species. These have included Tamarisk, Black-wood acacia, two species of Eucalyptus, and Stone pine. Initial efforts have been targeted at outlying populations, small, concentrated populations, and seedling/sapling removal.

Renovations to the field station's open dormitory porch continue and this past year another wing was enclosed which provides two more bunk rooms. Database and GIS enhancement continues despite Coastal Commission permitting delays which have delayed the siting of the database until fall, 1997. The Database Center has acquired a new Pentium PC which is on site for researcher use and the Channel Islands GIS database has been established in ArcView 3 (a database program). A NSF proposal has been submitted to the Improvements in Facilities, Communications, and Equipment at Biological Field Stations and Marine Laboratories program. If funded, we will be able to provide telecommunication links between the reserve Database Center and UCSB via a dedicated microwave link and to provide photovoltaic power to the center.

1995-1996 Highlights
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A milestone was reached this past year when Santa Barbara Botanic Garden researchers published the long awaited A Flora of Santa Cruz Island. The field research resulting in this publication began in the mid-1960's under Dr. Ralph Philbrick (almost at the same time as the UC Field Station's inception). This publication will be an invaluable asset to researchers, classes, and resource managers involved on Santa Cruz and all of the Channel Islands.

A course that a highlights the educational opportunities present at the reserve is the Field Geology Techniques class taught entirely on the island by Dr. J. Boles, UCSB Department of Geology. Held during the break between winter and spring quarters, the class, for the first time, was based at the Christy Ranch facility at the west end of the island. The ease of access to field sites and reduced transportation time made the class much more productive. The beautiful location and views of Comet Hyakutaki made this year's class an especially memorable experience for the students.

The third successful season of prescribed burning on the reserve was conducted in November in coastal sage scrub and grassland habitats. This cooperative management program between The Nature Conservancy and Channel Islands National Park now provides a diverse array of research opportunities related to fire ecology.

We are continuing to develop our database center. Because of financial committments from UC NRS Director Deborah Elliot-Fisk and UCSB Executive Vice Chancellor Donald Crawford and Associate Vice Chancellor James Case, we received enough funds to initiate the project. We have developed site plans that will allow us to start the Coastal Commission permit process for the database center building and we have purchased some of the computer equipment for the GIS. We have continued to build the SCIR GIS, primarily through the efforts of Dr. Leal Mertes, UCSB Geography Department, and her students. More importantly, the Santa Cruz Island GIS project has evolved into a northern Channel Islands GIS database. The GIS project is now a cooperative program that includes support the of UCSB's Department of Geography, Alexandria Project, NCGIA, and Santa Cruz Island Reserve; the systemwide office of the University of California Natural Reserve System; Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS); Channel Islands National Park; and the State of California Office of Oil Spill Prevention and Response.

The first update and revision of the Channel Islands' electronic bibliography was completed this year. This cooperative program between SCIR and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is on Pro-Cite software and now has 4,052 entries. It is available in PC or Mac formats from the CINMS office.

We have continued the renovation of field station facilities. One wing of the sleeping porch has been enclosed and partitioned into two rooms that include 8 bunk beds. The laboratory/library/housing complex was re-roofed this year. Another donated building from the MariPro site was moved to the field station site. Metal siding and roofing were removed from another MariPro building and will be used to re-roof the field station kitchen/dorm and bathroom/garage buildings during the coming year. All of this work was done through the dedicated efforts of part-time Reserve Steward Brian Guerrero and his many exemplary volunteers.

1994-1995 Highlights
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In December, Channel Islands National Park (CINP) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) conducted a prescribed research burn, but an unpredicted and violent Santa Ana wind caused an out-of-control addition of several hundred acres to the prescribed burn. Burned and unburned areas will be incorporated into various projects of SCIR researchers and staff evaluating the effects of management strategies on native and exotic plants.

The winter storms of early 1995 were the worst in the reserve manager's experience. The rainfall of just over 45 inches, was the second highest since records started in 1904. Damage to the island's road system was extensive, but road repairs, made with TNC funding, were completed in May. During the January and March storms, reserve staff had to leave and return to the island via helicopter because the airstrip and roads to the harbor were heavily damaged. Despite the weather, some researchers continued to accomplish their goals. Visitation was low for this period, but the timely repairs and efforts of SCIR staff minimized inconveniences. Reserve Manager Dr. Laughrin devoted much time to an NSF proposal for the combined SNARL/SCIR Geographic Information System (GIS) Database Centers that was submitted in April. As part of the development of SCIR's GIS center, we accepted a building from the MariPro/SAIC/Navy facility that was in the process of being removed from the island. Three buildings were moved to the field station facility site in the central valley. Funds from UCSB's Office of Research and from the UC Office of the President (Systemwide NRS) were received to renovate the donated buildings. Dr. Leal Mertes (UCSB Geography Department) continues to direct students in the ongoing development of the Santa Cruz Island GIS database. Efforts were inaugurated to develop a satellite station with the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History at the Christy Ranch site on the island's west end.

A new long-term project of monitoring the island's intertidal marine resources was begun through the leadership of Drs. J Engle, P. Raimondi, R. Ambrose, K. Lafferty, and L. Gorodezky. All are affiliated with UCSB's Marine Science Institute.

1993-1994 Highlights
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Undoubtedly, the highlight of this past academic year was the long awaited, and highly successful, Fourth Channel Islands Symposium held March 23-25, 1994 at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Daniel Simberloff was the keynote speaker and there were 33 papers presented (out of a total of 109) based upon research conducted on the reserve. Sessions covered anthropology and archaeology, geography and geology, marine and terrestrial biology, and cultural and historical topics. The symposium was sponsored by the Channel Islands Research Coordinating Committee. The UC Santa Cruz Island Reserve is a member institution, and Reserve Manager Lyndal Laughrin served on the committee organizing the symposium.

Visitation and use of the reserve during the past year remained at high levels. Collectively, 579 users spent 3098 user days at the reserve. Winter weather and restricted space on the Navy boat contributed to travel difficulties. In order to surmount these problems, many visitors opted to use air and boat charter, an expensive option. Remodeling of the kitchen/dining room/deck by Reserve Steward Brian Guerrero was completed and has been greatly appreciated by field station users.

Development of a Santa Cruz Island Geographic Information System (GIS) was initiated this past year. With funding from the NRS systemwide office, Leal Mertes and graduate student, Michelle Cobb, of the UCSB Department of Geography, began building the foundations of the GIS. A "memorandum of understanding" (MOU) with Channel Islands National Park (CINP) allowed Dr. Mertes to obtain the digital elevation model (DEM) and digital line graph (DLG) layers for Santa Cruz Island. Other material incorporated into the GIS included coarse-scale topographical, soils, and ironwood distribution layers. Additional coverages of digitized versions of data from several research projects are being added. Dr. Mertes has expanded the MOU to develop a GIS database for the entire Channel Islands group. This work is the incentive for a developing proposal to NSF for a GIS database facility at the reserve.

The first prescribed use of fire as a management and research tool on Santa Cruz Island occurred this past year. Extensive planning and preparation by TNC Preserve Manager Rob Klinger, and CINP's Fire Coordinator Ishmael Metzer, resulted in a successful burn of about 1000 acres of mixed grassland and coastal sage scrub in the Pozo watershed (southwestern section of island) in December, 1993. Lyndal Laughrin will incorporate vegetation monitoring at this site into the Channel Island fire research project. Results will be used to develop management strategies for restoration of native perennial grasslands. Smaller prescribed burns were done in fennel plots in the central valley as part of ongoing attempts to find ways to curtail this invasive exotic plant.

The reserve and Dr. Laughrin, in cooperation with TNC's Santa Cruz Island Preserve and Preserve Manager Rob Klinger, hosted a workshop for oil spill contingency planning for Santa Cruz Island. This was attended by staff from the US Coast Guard, California Department of Fish and Game, Channel Islands National Park, Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, and commercial oil spill response/cleanup companies. Part of the workshop involved traveling around the island to visit the most sensitive and likely affected sites. SCIR also hosted a two-day field trip offered in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, held in Ventura in April, 1994. Dr. Laughrin led the field tour and presented a slide-lecture on the reserve's research and programs.

 

 

 

	Copyright 2002 University of California, Natural Reserve System
Last Updated 09/25/02