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Sedgwick |
Contact Information
Kate McCurdy,
Reserve Director
Sedgwick Reserve
P.O. Box 848
Santa Ynez, CA 93460-0848
Phone: 805-686-1941
mccurdy@lifesci.ucsb.edu |
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Location
Santa Barbara County, in the Santa Ynez
Valley; 35 mi north of the city of
Santa Barbara. Map Quest |
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Facilities
Limited overnight accommodations/
classroom available on site; ranch buildings
and infrastructure serve as a base for staff
and researcher housing, laboratory, and
teaching facilities; frame relay internet
connection to UCSB campus. |
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Databases
Meteorological station; geographic
information system (GIS) under
development; below-ground microbial
observatories. |
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Personnel
Resident staff reserve director and steward
on site; outreach coordinator; senior clerk. |
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Size
2,358 ha (5,896 acres), including a 313-ha
(783-acre) conservation easement in favor
of the County of Santa Barbara. |
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Elevation
290 to 790 m (950 to 2,600 ft) |
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Average Precipitation
38 cm (15 in) per year |
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 Transect
Articles
specific
to Sedgwick |
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 Mathias
Grant Research
specific
to Sedgwick |
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Site Spec Sheet (PDF) |
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More about Sedwick...
Land Trust for Santa Barbara
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<••• •••> |
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Reserve |
Established in 1996 |
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| Sedgwick Website |
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 Encompassing 24 square kilometers (9.2 square miles) on the southern slopes
of the San Rafael Mountains, the Sedgwick Reserve spans an elevational range
of 500 meters (1,650 feet) and is noted for both its large size and environmental
heterogeneity. The reserve contains a major geologic fault system and two distinctive
geologic formations: relatively young Paso Robles alluvium and much older
Franciscan metamorphosed seafloor, including large areas of serpentine. Diverse
vegetation types include coast live oak forest, blue oak woodland, valley oak
savannah, buckbrush chaparral, coastal sage scrub, grassland, willow riparian forest,
serpentine outcroppings, and agricultural lands. The site contains major portions
of two watersheds and a variety of localized wetland habitats, notably vernal pools.
The region has a rich Native American heritage, and at least one Middle Chumash
habitation site (1,500 to 2,000 years old) rests on site. The reserve’s large size enables
research of varying scales on native ecosystems. |
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Photo Gallery |
Environmental monitoring
Photomonitoring
plots; stream-water analysis
program; ongoing inventories of
arthropods, mammals, birds, reptiles.
Field instruction
Numerous university
courses, including botany, creative studies,
geology, environmental studies, ecology,
biogeography, soils, journalism, landscape
painting.
Public service
Outreach programs in
sciences, humanities, and the arts for
regional elementary/secondary schools;
field trips through partnership with Santa
Barbara Museum of Natural History,
Land Trust for Santa Barbara County,
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Santa
Ynez Valley Natural History Society, and
other organizations, as well as numerous
local artists. |
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Selected Research
• Oak regeneration: Ten-year collaborative
project on the roles of livestock and
grazing and other factors in regeneration
of two oak species; valley oak population
genetics.
• Native grasses: Competitive interactions
between native perennial grasses and
introduced annual grasses; perennial
grass population genetics.
• Soil nutrient flow: Movement of nutrients
in grassland systems, including
below-ground processes.
• Floristic survey: Collection and identification
of vascular and nonvascular
plant species on site.
Special Research of National Significance
• Microbial Observatory- Linking Resource and Stress Gradients to Microbial Community Composition and Function through the Soil Profile of a California Annual Grassland at the Sedgwick Reserve (detailed description...) |
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