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Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve
University of California
Los Angeles

Annual Report
2002 - 2003

 

Cantharellus cibarius

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

- Albert Einstein

 

Cover Illustration: Cantharellus cibarius by Lisa Pompelli

Cantharellus cibarius, commonly called chanterelle, is a species of fungi found throughout North America. This prized edible wild mushroom, yellow with an umbrella like cap and gills on the underside, is associated with a wide variety of tree species including the coast live oak. Care must be taken to avoid confusing it with toxic look-alikes.

 

UCLA Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve
University of California, Los Angeles
Phone:   (310) 206-3887;  Fax: (310) 825-9433
Email:     cfelixso@ucla.edu; Web Site: http://nrs.ucop.edu/Reserves/stunt/html

Narrative Overview 2002-2003 

With apologies to, and appreciation for, noted artist and author, Maurice Sendak, the theme for the Stunt Ranch Reserve’s 2002-2003 academic year is, “WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE – the plants and animals of the Santa Monica Mountains”. It is also the theme of the Reserve’s installation in the lobby of the UCLA Life Science Building. To learn about this and other Stunt Ranch Reserve pursuits, please see below.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE EXHIBIT:
This professional quality exhibit, designed by Lisa Pompelli, the Reserve’s design consultant, features photographs by nature photographer, Tom Gamache, and Scott Story of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA). Pictured organisms include: a velvet ant, stink beetle, kingsnake, coyote, deermouse, horned lizard, kestrel, California newt, California quail, bobcat, Humbolt lily, shooting star, and manzanita. A custom designed map of the vegetation zones of the Santa Monica Mountains was produced by Lisa Pompelli with help from the SMMNRA. Stuffed and mounted specimens of a badger, sharp-skinned hawk, and great horned owl are on loan, from the SMMNRA. In addition to serving as a prototype for the Reserve’s Education and Nature Center, the display serves as an educational resource for students, faculty, and visitors in the bustling Life Science lobby.

RECONSTRUCTION OF EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES:
The Reserve has continued working with UCLA Facilities Management and engineering firms in investigating alternative sewage systems for the reconstruction of the Stunt Ranch facilities. The focus is now on rebuilding the Education and Nature Center. At a later date, attention will be given to the on-site manager’s home and office. Happily, the Reserve is close to a resolution that will enable planning to move forward.

SANTA MARIA TRAILS AND PARKS ASSOCIATION (SMTPA) GRANT:
The Reserve is pleased to thank the Santa Maria Trails and Parks Association (SMTPA) for the last installment of their $50,000 grant, which was initially awarded, to the UCLA Stunt Ranch in 1998. The Reserve shares the vision of the SMTPA to preserve natural resources and impart the lessons gained from environmental research and education to students who will gain an understanding of the vital importance of conservation. The SMTPA grant, which was paid out in $10,000 installments over five years, is to fund exhibits, materials and supplies for the Stunt Ranch Reserve Nature Center. There are no current University funds available for these expenses to enhance the Reserve’s educational programs for elementary school students. Therefore, the Reserve must look to the generosity of private and public donors such as the SMTPA.

MEDITERRANEAN-CLIMATE REGIONS POSTER:
Produced by the Reserve in 2001-2002, the “Mediterranean-Climate Regions” educational poster was distributed to many local and worldwide agencies, organizations, and universities.  The UCLA Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, the Cold Creek Docents, the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (National Park Service) and via various teacher conferences, the poster was distributed free of charge to regional K-12 schools. It is now available for purchase by the public at two of the National Park Service visitor centers in Southern California. The poster identifies the five mediterranean-climate regions, their patterns of global occurrences, and their convergent as well as unique characteristics. It also describes the threats they face as areas of irreplaceable biodiversity whose protection is of critical global importance.

INTERCONTINENTAL PROGRAM ON CITIES AND CONSERVATION IN MEDITERRANEAN-TYPE ECOSYSTEMS:
On a related topic, Dr. Philip Rundel, the Reserve’s faculty director, has been working with Ted Trzyna, president of the California Institute of Public Affairs/InterEnvironment, to implement a workshop on intercontinental programs on cities and conservation in Mediterranean-type ecosystems. This will be held in March 2004. 

CENTER FOR EMBEDDED NETWORKED SENSING AT UCLA:
Dr. Rundel continued his involvement as a principal investigator with the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS) AT UCLA. CENS is a new NSF Science and Technology Center working to develop technologically innovative sensing arrays with wide applications in environmental biology and ecosystem studies. The initial efforts of CENS are focused on the design of a habitat and organism sensing test bed at the UC Natural Reserve System’s James Reserve and at affiliated field sites. Stunt Ranch will be involved in future projects.

UCLA INSTITUTE OF THE ENVIRONMENT (IoE) SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT CARD:
Dr. Rundel wrote a chapter for the 2003 UCLA Institute of the Environment Southern California Report Card.  The title is Invasive Species.  See http://www.ioe.ucla.edu/reportcard/report03/InvasiveSpecies.htm

LOS ANGELES TIMES - DRAWING FROM NATURE SERIES:
The Reserve’s participation in the Los Angeles Times Reading by Nine Literacy Program took a major leap in the past year. Drawing From Nature: a science and art lesson for kids is now featured as the main story on the Kids Reading Room on the first Sunday of each month. Carol Felixson, the Reserve’s director of education and community outreach, introduces children to a subject from nature and an art technique. The children then apply what they have learned in an illustration. Photos record the children’s work in progress and their final art project. With the Sunday Times local circulation at over one million, the Drawing from Nature series has proven to be a successful and wide-ranging venue for the Reserve’s off-site education efforts and the promotion of the on-site K-12 environmental education programs. 

The past year’s topics included:

To read the articles, see the art and photos of the kids, please visit the Reserve’s News for Kids website at http://nrs.ucop.edu/Reserves/stunt/newsforkids.html

OTHER RESERVE OFF-SITE ACTIVITIES:
·         Participation as an exhibitor at the Center for Environmental Analysis – Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology Conference held in Pasadena.

·         Participation as an exhibitor at the PACE K-12 Agriculture/Environmental Teachers Conference in South Los Angeles.

 ·         Participation as an exhibitor in the UCLA K-12 booth at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. The Festival has an approximate attendance of 150,000 people over two days.

ON-SITE RESERVE USE:
The Stunt Ranch Reserve determines use on the basis of visitor days. During 2002-2003, the reserve had 5,106 users for a total of 5,429 user days. These user numbers are broken down by university-level use from UCLA, other UC campuses, the California State University system, and others within/outside California. In addition to university use, the Reserve hosted environmental education programs for K-12 coordinated by the Cold Creek Docents, and varied public outreach programs.

See User’s affiliations.


RESERVE INSTRUCTION:
The following university-level courses and graduate programs used the Stunt Ranch Reserve in the past year:

• Astronomical Observation (Astro 8 A)
• Graduate Student Seminar (OBEE 265)
• California Ecosystems (OBEE 154)
• Freshman Fiat Lux seminar (Honors College)
• Global Environment (GE CLST M1A)
• Ph.D. Field Exam: Ground Truthing Vegetation for RS Image Classification  (Geography)
• Archaeological Field Training (Anthropology 115P)
• Animal Behavior (OBEE 129)
• Intro to Ecology/Evolution (LifeSci 1)
• Environmental Studies Graduate Seminar (History)
• Ornithology (OBEE 114)
• Bio 2B

See User’s affiliation and Instruction.



RESERVE RESEARCH PROJECTS:
The following research projects took place on, or in the surrounding vicinity, of the Stunt Ranch Reserve during the past year.

See User’s affiliation, and Research Projects


K-12 ACTIVITIES:
Students from dozens of schools throughout the greater Los Angeles area visited the Reserve for programs coordinated by the Cold Creek Docents (CCD). These programs represented a unique and highly successful collaboration between UCLA and the CCD. The Reserve benefited from the on-going excellence of the program and the commitment of the docents. The docents received Reserve help in publicizing the programs and by providing enrichment opportunities.

The three-hour school programs focus on chaparral and fire ecology, geology, and early local Native American and homestead history. When students arrive, they are led on a 1.5-mile round trip hike on the Stunt High Trail. Once in the educational zone of the Reserve they take part in a rotation of interactive activities including viewing a mural of Chumash village life, taxidermied animals native to the area, acorn grinding, "cave wall" painting, playing of Chumash games and demonstrations of tool making. Students bring brown bag lunches and return to their vehicles by trail with more interpretation along the way. Free curriculum guides are available at: http://nrs.ucop.edu/Reserves/stunt.html.


For details, see Use data and user’s affiliations, and listing of K-12 visits.
 

back to Table of Contents

2002-2003 University-level Instruction

back to Table of Contents

2002-2003 Research Reports

(lists Principal Investigator Name, Affiliation, Research Title,
Project Duration, and Funding Source)

PROJECT # 1

Research User(s):      Philip W. Rundel

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:              Comparative studies of Mediterranean-climate ecosystems

Project Duration:       1993 – on-going

Continuation of a long-term comparative study of Mediterranean-climate ecosystems using Stunt Ranch as a basis for studies.

PROJECT # 2

Research User(s):      Philip W. Rundel and Rasoul Sharifi

Project Title:              Bush poppy demography and productivity

Project Duration:       1993 – on-going  

This is the ninth year of a study investigating post-fire patterns of demography and productivity in Dendromecon rigida, the bush poppy, which became established in dense stands on north-facing slopes of the Santa Monica Mountains following wildfires in 1993.

  ____________________________________________________________

PROJECT # 3

Research User (s):     Philip W. Rundel, Qinfeng Guo, Jon Keeley

User Affiliation(s):     UCLA, USGS

Project Title:              Post-fire successional dynamics

Project Duration:       1993 – on-going

Funding Source:         National Science Foundatio

A long-term monitoring project of permanent plots established at Stunt Ranch and in the Santa Monica Mountains after the 1993 wildfire is continuing.

___________________________________________________________

 PROJECT # 4

Research User (s):     Lee Katz

User Affiliation:         Pepperdine University

Project Title:              Salamander response to chaparral fire

Project Duration:       1993-1997

___________________________________________________________

PROJECT # 5

Research User(s):      Karen Esler

User Affiliation:         University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

Project Title:              Chaparral soil seed pools

Project Duration:       1994

___________________________________________________________

PROJECT # 6

Research User(s):      Philip W. Rundel

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:               Impact of chaparral fires on riparian ecosystems in the Santa Monica Mountains

Project Duration:       1995- on-going

A long-term monitoring project of permanent plots established at Stunt Ranch and in the Santa Monica Mountains after the 1993 wildfire is continuing.

_______________________________________________________________

PROJECT # 7

Research User(s):      Peter Nonacs

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:              Ant colony and productivity

Project Duration:       1996 – 1998

__________________________________________________________

PROJECT # 8

Research User(s):      John Gamon

User Affiliation:         California State University Los Angeles

Project Title:              Multi-spectral remote sensing of plant productivity

Project Duration:       1996 - 2001

___________________________________________________________

PROJECT # 9

Research User (s):     Richard F. Ambrose, Antony R. Orme, and others *

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:              Lower Malibu Creek and Malibu Lagoon resource enhancement and management project

Project Duration:       1997 – 2000

Funding Source:         California State Coastal Conservancy

Other Investigators:

-         Johannes Feddema, Geography

-         Charles Gerba (University of Arizona)

-         Philip Rundel, OBEE

-         Mel Suffet, Environmental Science & Engineering Program

-         M.I. Venkatesan, IGPP

__________________________________________________________

PROJECT # 10

Research User(s):      Robert Wayne and Michael Kohn

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:              Calibration of molecular techniques for the genetic analysis of coyote faeces in the Santa Monica Mountains

Project Duration:       1997 – 1998

________________________________________________________________________

PROJECT # 11

Research User(s):      Brian Zutta and John Gamon

User Affiliation:         California State University, Los Angeles

Project Title:              Monitoring changing ecosystem productivity and functional diversity in evergreen-dominated ecosystems using multi-scale remote sensing.

Project Duration:       1998 – 2002

Funding Source:         $1,069,961 (5 years) from NSF-CREST, Part of a larger $5 million dollar grant to form CEA-CREST at Cal State LA. (HRD-9805529)

________________________________________________________________________

PROJECT # 12

Research User(s):      Philip W. Rundel and Rasoul Sharifi

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:              Long term gas exchange and water relations study of a chaparral plant community

Project Duration:       1998-on-going

Our study site, Stunt Ranch, in the Santa Monica Mountains, is a mixed community of plant species with different adaptive strategies, including shrubs with evergreen, sclerophyllous leaves, as well as species with soft-leaved, drought-deciduous leaves.  The study species included woody evergreens (Quercus dumosa; Q.  agrifolia; Heteromeles arbutifolia; Ceanothus spinosus; Rhamnus ilicifolia and Arctostaphylos glandulosa), woody deciduous shrubs (Fraxinus velutina var. coriacea; Malacothamnus fasciculatus and Ribes speciosum), and semi-woody deciduous shrubs (Salvia leucophylla; S. spathacea; Venegasia carpesioides and Eriogonum crocatum).

During 2003 we continued our study on the ecophysiological responses of the study species to environmental conditions. In contrast to previous years, using a LI6200 (a depletion based closed system, allowing gas exchange measurements under environmental conditions), in 2003 we used a portable open gas exchange system (LI6400, LI-COR Inc., Lincoln, Nebraska) capable of maintaining steady-state conditions with respect to temperature, CO₂, and water vapor concentrations within the assimilation chamber. Net CO₂ uptake (A), stomatal conductance to water vapor (g) and transpiration (E) were monitored on all mature study plants.  We constructed a set of photosynthetic light response curves under ambient CO₂ concentration (360 ppm) to evaluate major photosynthetic properties such as dark respiration, light compensation point and light saturation of CO₂ uptake (A_max).

Measurements were made on fully mature leaves.  We also constructed CO₂ response curves to measure the photosynthetic capacity of the study plants under saturated CO₂ concentration and saturated light intensities.  CO₂ response curves will help to understand other components of CO₂ supply related limitations to photosynthesic carbon uptake.

To assess the soil water conditions during gas exchange measurements, we measured plant water potentials. In our future study we will focus on the effect of Santa Ana wind conditions on our study species.  Santa Ana wind, which moves dry warm air from the desert, increases the air temperature and decreases the RH (as low as 10-15%) and each time lasts 3-4 days.  Many studies show that Mediterranean shrubs are sensitive to low humidity and causes stomatal closure, which results simultaneously in reduction of CO₂ uptake.

________________________________________________________________________

PROJECT # 13

Research User(s):      Charles A. Knight (Advisor – David Ackerly)

User Affiliation:         Stanford University

Project Title:              Comparative ecophysiology of heat shock protein expression in plants

Project Duration:       1998- 2000

Funding:                    Stanford University Grant

________________________________________________________________________

PROJECT # 14

Research User(s):      Jeff Thomas (Advisor – Peter Nonacs)

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:              Signal variation and categorization by wrentits (Chamaea fasciata)

Project Duration:       1998 –2000

Funding Source:         Grant, 2000-2001 UCLA Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology, and Evolution Research Grant

________________________________________________________________________

PROJECT # 15

Research User(s):      Aviva Liebert (Advisor – Peter Nonacs)

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:              Division of labor and reproductive skew among paper wasp foundresses

Project Duration:       1998 – 2002

Funding Source:         1998-1999, 1999-2000 Mildred E. Mathias Graduate Student Grant, 2000-2001 UCLA Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology, and Evolution Research Grant

________________________________________________________________________

PROJECT # 16

Research User(s):      Maria Diuk (Advisor – Peter Nonacs)

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:              Social behavior and learning in the California scrub jay

Project Duration:       1998

_______________________________________________________________________

PROJECT # 17

Research User(s):      Craig M. Fiehler (Advisor – Peter Nonacs)

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:             The effects of resource density on territorial behavior in wintering
wrentits (Chamaeafasciata)

Project Duration:       1998- 1999

Research User(s):      Stewart B. Peck

User Affiliation:         Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Project Title:              Diversity of winter-active leiodid beetles in southern California

Project Duration:       1999

Research User(s):      Fritz Hertel

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:              Small mammal and bird survey at Stunt Ranch

Project Duration:       1999, 2000

Research User(s):      Antony Orme

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:              Erosion and sediment transfers in the Topanga Creek watershed

Project Duration:       2000-2001

Funding Source:         Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project (ultimately from the EPA) via the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains

Research User(s):      Philip W. Rundel and Judith King

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:              Ecosystem processes and dynamics in the urban/wildland interface of Southern California

Project Duration:       2000 – 2001

Research User(s):      Michael LaPlante (Advisor – Martin Cody)

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:              Changes in insect faunal populations in conjunction with a change in season at the California chaparral

Project Duration:       2000

 Research User(s):      D. Riaño, E. Chuvieco, S. Ustin, R. Zomer, P. Dennison, and D. Roberts

User Affiliaton:          UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, Univ. of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain

Project Title:              Modeling and prediction of wildfire hazard in Southern California, integration of models with imaging spectrometry

Project Duration:       2000

Research User(s):      Don Miller

User Affiliation:         Trinity University

Project Title:              A preliminary phylogeny of galling aphids and their congeneric parasites on Arctostaphylos shrubs

Project Duration:       2001

Research User(s):      Nicholas Manoukis

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:              Effects of quaternary climate change on the genetic structure of Hyla cadaverina, the California tree frog

Project Duration:       2001

Research User(s):      Daniel T. Blumstein and Rina Fernandez

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:              The evolutionary-ecology of fear: comparative studies of disturbance in birds. Do birds habituate to human disturbance?     

Project Duration:       2001

Funding Source:         Lida Scott Brown        

 Research User (s):     Richard F. Ambrose

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:              Environmental monitoring and bioassessment of Ventura and Los Angeles County watersheds

Project Duration:       2001 –2003

Funding Source:         Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board

Research User (s):     Ammon Corl

User Affiliation:         University of California, Santa Cruz

Project Title:             The stability of frequency dependent dynamics in the Side-blotched lizard.

Project Duration:       2002

Funding Source:        Mathias grant, 2002

Research User(s):      Paul Wilson, Elizabeth Jordon

User Affiliation:         California State University, Northridge

Project Title:              Pollinator preference among two species of Penstemon flowers and their hybrids

Project Duration:       2002 – on-going

Two related flowering plant species are adapted to disparate pollinators. Penstemon spectabilis relies on bees and wasps for pollen transfer, while P. centranthifolius relies on hummingbirds for pollen transfer. We observed hummingbird visitation to the parental species and their hybrids and backcrosses. By manipulating nectar amount and quality, we have observed that Hummingbirds will visit P. spectabilis if its nectar reward is sufficient. Therefore nectar may be preeminent in determining the difference in pollinators and therefore the different species.

PROJECT # 32

Research User (s):     Jonathan Levine, Heather Coleman

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:              The impacts of exotic grass invaders on the growth, species composition andrichness of sparse native forbs in Southern California

Project Duration:       2002 - 2003

Funding Source:         UCLA

Biological invasions are well appreciated to impact native diversity, but the mechanisms by which they do so remain poorly understood. We examined the impact of exotic annual grasses and their litter on the growth, species composition, and richness of native forbs in a Santa Monica Mountain grassland. In order to test the importance of hypothesized mechanisms of impact, we manipulated rainfall, the presence of invasive grasses, and the amount of litter coverage in a small meadow. Analysis of the results has revealed significantly greater cover of native forbs upon the removal of litter, while exotics thrive upon the more time consuming removal of grasses. A similar pattern is evident in the diversity of these plants. In this study, we discuss the implication of these results for the management of native species assemblages.

________________________________________________________________________

Research User(s):      David Gray

User Affiliation:         California State University, Northridge

Project Title:              Acoustic communication and phonotactic predation in crickets.

Project Duration:       2002 – 2003

Field playbacks of cricket song were used to attract phonotactic parasitoid flies (Diptera, Tachinidae, Ormia ochracea).  I confirmed the presence of the fly at Stunt Ranch (34 flies were caught in 8 nights sampling).  The playback study was replicated elsewhere in the Santa Monica Mountains (Mulholland and Las Virgenes roads) and is in preparation for publication.  While conducting this research at Stunt Ranch, I also confirmed the presence of an undescribed species of scaly cricket in the genus Hoplosphyrum (Orthoptera, Gryllidae, Mogoplistinae).  This is noted and song comparison provided in a separate publication regarding acoustic behavior in a related cricket, Hoplosphyrum boreale.

Research User(s):      Daphne Christopher and Hannah Stevens

User Affiliation:         The New York Botanical Garden Institute of Economic Botany

Project Title:              Floristics and Phytochemical Survey Project

Project Duration:       2002

_______________________________________________________________________

Research User(s):      Arthur C. Gibson and Barry Prigge

User Affiliation:         UCLA

Project Title:              Flora of the Santa Monica Mountains, California

Project Duration:       2003 – on-going

Ambrose, R.F., S.F. Lee and S.P. Bergquist. 2003. Environmental monitoring and bioassessment of coastal watersheds in Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. Report to the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board. (With Addendum)

Anzalone, C.B., L.B. Kats, and M. Gordon, 1998. Effects of solar uv-b on embryonic development in three species of lower latitude and lower elevation amphibians Conservation Biology, 12, 646-653

Blumstein, D.T., 2003. Fernández-Juricic, E., LeDee, O., Larsen, E., Rodriguez-Prieto, I., and C. Zugmeyer. In press. Avian risk assessment: effects of perching height and detectability. Ethology

Blumstein, D.T. 2003. Flight initiation distance in birds is dependent on intruder starting distance. Journal of Wildlife Management 67:852-857.

Chari J, Wilson P. 2001. Factors limiting hybridization between Penstemon spectabilis and Penstemon centranthifolius (Scrophulariaceae). Canadian Journal of Botany 79: 1439-1448.

Cody, M.L., 2000, Bird diversity in oak and eucalyptus woodlands, AUK

Davis, S.D., F.W. Ewers, *J. Wood, *J.J. Reeves. and *K.J. Kolb. 1999. Differential susceptibility to xylem cavitation among three pairs of Ceanothus species in the Transverse Mountain Ranges of Southern California. Ecoscience.

Dilley J, Wilson P, Mesler MR. 2000. The radiation of Calochortus: Generalist flowers moving through a mosaic of potential pollinators. Oikos 89: 209-222.

Fedriani, J.M., T.K. Fuller, R.M. Sauvajot, E.C. York, 2000. Diets of three sympatric carnivores in the Santa Monica Mountains of California: the importance of habitat, human presence and interspecific competition. Oecologia 125, 258-270

Fedriani, J.M., T.K. Fuller, R.M. Sauvajot, 2001. Does availability of anthropogenic food enhance densities of omnivorous mammals? An example with coyotes in southern California. Ecography 24, 325-331

Gamradt, S.C. and L.B. Kats. 1996. Effect of introduced crayfish and mosquitofish on California newts. Conservation Biology 10: 1155-1162.

Gamradt, S.C. and L.B. Kats, 1997. Impact of chaparral wildfire induced sedimentation on oviposition of stream-breeding California newts (Taricha torosa), Oecologia, 110, 546-549

Gamradt, S.C. and L.B. Kats. 1997. Aggression by non-native crayfish deters breeding California newts. Conservation Biology 11: 793-796.

Guo, Q. and P.W. Rundel. 1997. Measuring dominance and diversity in ecological communities: choosing the right variables. Journal of Vegetation Science 8: 405-408.

Guo, Q. and P.W. Rundel. 1998. Self-thinning in early postfire chaparral succession: mechanisms, implications, and a combined approach. Ecology 79(2): 579-586.

Guo, Q, 2001. Early post-fire succession in California chaparral: changes in diversity, density, cover and biomass. Ecological Research 16, 471-485

Keeley, J.E. 1996. Postfire vegetation recovery in the Santa Monica Mountains under two alternative management programs. Bulletin Southern California Academy of Sciences 95: 103-119

J.E. Keeley, M.B. Baer-Keeley, and C.J. Fotheringham, editors. 2nd Interface Between Ecology and Land Development in California. U.S. Geological Survey, Sacramento, CA

Keeley, J.E. and C.J. Fotheringham, 2001, Historic fire regime in Southern California shrublands. Conservation Biology Volume 6, No.6, 1536-1548

Keeley, J.E. and C.J. Fotheringham. 2001. History and management of crown-fire ecosystems: A summary and response. Conservation Biology 15: 1561-1567

Keeley, J.E. 2002. Fire management of California shrubland landscapes. Environmental Management 29:395-408.

Keeley, J. E., M. S. Witter, and R. S. Taylor. 2003. Challenges of managing fires along an urban-wildland interface --- lessons from the Santa Monica Mountains, Los Angeles, California. In Third International Wildland Fire Conference. Sydney, Australia.

Kerby, J.L. and L.B. Kats, 1998, Modified interactions between salamander life stages caused by wildfire induced sedimentation, Ecology, 79, 740-745

Kohn, M., Eric C. York, Denise A. Kamradt, Gary Haught, Raymond M. Sauvajot, Robert K. Wayne, 1999. Estimating population size by genotyping faeces, Proc.R. Soc.Lond.B, 266, number 1420, April 1999

Langen, T.A. and R.M. Gibson. 1998. Sampling and information acquisition by western scrub-jays, Aphelocoma californica. Animal Behaviour 55: 1245-1254.

Langen, T.A. 1999. How western scrub-jays (Aphelocoma californica) select a nut: effects of the number of options, variation in nut size, and social competition among foragers. Animal Cognition 2:223-233.

Liebert, A.E. 2003. Behavioral flexibility throughout the colony cycle of the paper wasp, Polistes aurifer. Ph.D. Thesis, University of California, Los Angeles.

Liebert, A.E.  2004. Ground nesting in the paper wasp Polistes aurifer (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Insectes Sociaux, 51(1):1-2.

Luce, Shelley. 2003. “Urbanization and Aquatic Ecosystem Health in Malibu Creek, California: Impacts on Periphyton, Benthic Macroinvertebrates, and Environmental Policy.” D.Env. dissertation, UCLA.

Murry, M.A., A.S. Konopka, S.D. Pratt, and T.L Vandergon. 1997. The use of PCR-based typing methods to assess the diversity of Frankia nodule endophytes of the actinorhizal shrub Ceanothus. Physiologia Plantarum 99: 714-721.

Pratt, S.D., A.S. Konopka, M.A. Murry, F.W. Ewers, and S.D. Davis. 1997. Influences of soil moisture on the nodulation of post-fire seedlings of Ceanothus spp. growing in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. Physiologia Plantarum 99: 673-679.

Redtefeldt, R.A., and S.D. Davis. 1996. Physiological and morphological evidence of niche segregation between two co-occurring species of Adenostoma in California chaparral. Ecoscience 3: 290-296.

Riano, D, E. Chuvieco, S. Ustin, R. Zomer, P. Dennison, D. Roberts, J. Salas. 2002. Assessment of vegetation regeneration after fire through multitemporal analysis of AVIRIS images in the Santa Monica Mountains. Remote Sensing of Environment 79: 60-71.

Rundel, P.W., G. Montenegro, F. Jaksic, 1998, Landscape Degradation and Biodiversity in Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems, Springer Verlag, 447 PP.

Rundel, P.W. 1999. Disturbance in mediterranean-climate shrublands and woodlands

L.Walker (ed.) Ecosystems of Disturbed Ground. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 271-285

Rundel, P.W. 1999. Wildland fire. pp. 4-11, In: Southern California Environmental Report Card 1999. UCLA Institute of the Environment, Los Angeles.

Rundel, P.W. and J. A. King, 2001. Ecosystem processes and dynamics in the urban/wildland interface of Southern California. Journal of Mediterranean Ecology 2 209-219.

Rundel, P.W. 2002. Preserving biodiversity. pp. 4-13, In: Southern California Environmental Report Card 2002. UCLA Institute of the Environment, Los Angeles.

Rundel, P.W. 2003. Invasive species as a global problem. pp. 5-11, In: Southern California Environmental Report Card 2003. UCLA Institute of the Environment, Los Angeles.

Saidy, J. & Gray, D. A.  Acoustic behavior of Hoplosphyrum boreale (Scudder): a common scaly cricket of Southern California. In press. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences.

Sauvajot,R.M., E.C. York, T.K. Fuller, H.S. Kim, D.A. Kamradt, and R.K. Wayne. 2000. Distribution and status of carnivores in the Santa Monica Mountains, California: preliminary results from radio telemetry and remote camera surveys.

J.E. Keeley, M.B.  Baer-Keeley, and C.J. Fotheringham, editors. 2nd Interface Between Ecology and Land Development in California. U.S. Geological Survey, Sacramento, CA, 113-124

Schoenberg, F.P., R. Peng, Z. Huang and P. Rundel. 2003. Detection of non-linearities in the dependence of burn area on fuel age and climatic variables. International Journal of Wildland Fire 12:

Wilson P, Castellanos MC, Wolfe A, Thomson JD. Shifts between bee- and bird-pollination among penstemons. In N. Waser and J. Ollerton (eds.) Specialization and generalization in plant-pollinator interactions. University of Chicago Press.

Wilson P, Valenzuela M. 2002. Three naturally occurring Penstemon hybrids. Western North American Naturalist 62: 25- 31.

Wilson P, Castellanos MC, Hogue JN, Thomson JD, Armbruster WS. 2004. A multivariate search for pollination syndromes among penstemons. Oikos 104: 345-361.

Zutta, B.R. and Gamon, J.A. 2002. Assessing vegetation functional type and biodiversity in Southern California using spectral reflectance. Research Report to CEA CREST.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
University-Level Research: 9 users, 120 user days
Faculty: 5 users, 49 user days
Research Scientist: 2 user, 26 user days
Graduate Student: 2 users, 45 user days

University –Level Instruction: 267 users; 267 user days
Instructors: 14 users, 14 user days
Students: 253 users, 254 user days

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
University-Level Instruction/Research: 13 users; 58 user days
Instructors/Faculty: 2 users, 12 user days
Students: 11 users, 46 user days

COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM
University-Level Instruction/Research: 47 users; 47 user days
Instructors/Faculty: 2 users, 2 user days
Students: 45 users, 45 user days

K-12
Users: 4,704; 4,869 user days,
Students and adult chaperones): 4,384 users, 4,384 user days
Instructors (docents): 20 users, 485 user days


OTHER
Users: 66; User Days: 68


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TOTAL: 5,106 users; 5,429 user days



 

Coordinated/led by the Cold Creek Docents of the Mountains Restoration Trust

• 20th Street Elementary, Los Angeles
• Alta Loma Elementary, Los Angeles
• Bay Laurel Elementary, Calabasas
• Bella Vista Elementary, Monterey Park
• California Science Center, Los Angeles
• Castle Heights Elementary, Los Angeles
• Chamilian Armenian School, Glendale
• Church of Latter Day Saints School, Camarillo
• Coldwater Canyon Elementary, North Hollywood
• Curtis School, Los Angeles
• Emergency Immigrant Education Program, Los Angeles
• Euclid Ave Elementary, Los Angeles
• Franklin Ave. Elementary, Los Angeles
• Halldale Elementary, Torrance
• Kennedy Elementary, Los Angeles
• Lawrence Middle School, Chatsworth
• L.B. Weemes Elementary, Los Angeles
• Liggett Elementary, Panorama City
• Limerick Ave. Elementary, Canoga Park
• Lincoln Middle School, Santa Monica
• Lock Elementary, Los Angeles
• Locke High School, Los Angeles
• Lockhurst Elementary, Woodland Hills
• Los Feliz Elementary, Los Angeles
• Lycee Francais De Los Angeles, Los Angeles
• Maimonides Academy, Los Angeles
• Main Street Elementary, Los Angeles
• Mount Washington Elementary, Los Angeles
• Normont Elementary, Los Angeles
• Our Lady of the Valley, Canoga Park
• Pueblo Science Center, Los Angeles
• Robert F. Kennedy Elementary, Los Angeles
• Rockdale Elementary, Los Angeles
• Round Meadow Elementary, Los Virgenes
• Russell Ave Elementary, Los Angeles
• Selma Ave. Elementary, Los Angeles
• The Oaks School, Hollywood
• Toluca Lake Elementary, Los Angeles
• Turningpoint School, Culver City
• UCLA Outdoor Adventures, Los Angeles
• Vena Elementary, Arleta
• Windsor Hills Elementary, Los Angeles
 

Reserve Faculty Director: Reserve Faculty Director: Philip Rundel is a Professor in the Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology, and Evolution, at UCLA. He is a plant ecologist with a varied range of interests ranging from physiological plant ecology to conservation biology, with a special emphasis on chaparral ecosystems of Southern California and warm desert ecosystems of the. Field studies center on Stunt Ranch and in the Mojave Desert at the Sweeney Granite Mountains Reserve, Edwards Air Force Base, and the Fort Irwin National Training Center. He is a member of the UCLA Institute of the Environment (IoE), where he authored a chapter on “Invasive Species” in the IoE 2003 Southern California Environmental Report Card. Additionally, Rundel works closely with the National Park Service on resource management issues and monitoring programs for the Santa Monica Mountains. In November 2003, he presented an invited paper at the 25th Anniversary Symposium for the UC Granite Mountains Reserve on comparative ecological studies in winter rainfall deserts of California, the Atacama Desert of Chile, and the Succulent Karoo of South Africa. Beyond his mediterranean region and desert research, he continues an active program of investigation on the ecophysiology and demography of plants in tropical environments. This research involved field studies at the La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica and in seasonal tropical forests of Thailand and Cambodia. Rundel is a member of the Research Committee for the Organization for Tropical Studies, a consortium of universities and scientific institutions that sponsors international research and education programs on tropical ecology. He is also an Investigator in the new NSF Center for Embedded Networked Sensing at UCLA, where he is working with engineers and information technology faculty in adapting new technologies in wireless sensor networks to applications in ecosystems science and ecophysiology.
 

Reserve Director of Education and Community Outreach: In addition to her work for the Stunt Ranch Reserve, Carol Felixson also serves as the docent and communications coordinator for the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden (MEMBG) at UCLA. Felixson writes a column for the Los Angeles Times; her work appearing on the first Sunday of each month in the Comics Plus section. The series is called DRAWING FROM NATURE: a Science and Art Lesson for Kids. In it she writes about the plants and animals found at the Reserve and in the UCLA Garden. Accompanying illustrations by children between the ages of 5-12 are unique to her articles. Felixson also writes Carol’s Corner, a column that appears in the UCLA MEMBG quarterly newsletter. These columns include interviews with Garden staff and volunteers and feature what she considers to be special about the Garden. Felixson, a graduate in Social Welfare from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, completed a Professional Designation in Public Relations and has just begun a Creative Writing Certificate Program, both through UCLA Extension.

Reserve Design Consultant: Lisa Pompelli is an illustrator and exhibit designer for the Stunt Ranch Reserve. She recently created, with Dr. Phil Rundel, an educational poster on the Mediterranean-Climate Regions of the World. She currently teaches botanical illustration at the Huntington Botanical Garden where she continues to design posters for their science and botany programs. Pompelli attended Art Center College of Design and graduated with a degree in Geography at UCLA.

Philip W. Rundel, Chair: Professor in the Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology, and Evolution, at UCLA.

Richard F. Ambrose: Professor in the UCLA School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences and Director of the Environmental Science and Engineering Program. Dr. Ambrose continued his long-term research on wetland ecology and restoration at Mugu Lagoon; he also began an assessment of the success of wetland mitigation projects throughout Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. Dr. Ambrose’s research also includes long-term monitoring of rocky intertidal communities in southern California and aquatic ecosystem health of coastal watersheds.

Jeanne Arnold: Professor of Anthropology at UCLA. She is an archaeologist with a research focus on California and the Northwest Pacific Coast. Dr. Arnold is co-director of an international (US-Canada) collaborative archaeological research project on the later prehistory of southern British Columbia and is engaged in a 3-year ethnoarchaeological project on modern Los Angeles household architecture and family interactions. She and her students continue to do research on the Channel Islands and in mainland southern California. Her latest book is The Origins of a Pacific Coast Chiefdom: The Chumash of the Channel Islands.

Martin Cody: Professor in the Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology, and Evolution, at UCLA. In this last year Cody continued with long-tern research projects on bird breeding densities in Grand Teton National Park (June) and on plant colonization-extinction dynamics on islands in British Columbia, and studies on Mexican oak distributions. Also gave seminars at the University of Florida Gainesville, Scripps Institute San Diego.

Art Huffman: Senior Lecturer in Physics and Astronomy. He teaches physics and astronomy in regular session and in extension classes, develops labs and new classes, gives demonstration shows at schools, and runs observation astronomy trips to dark sky sites, including Stunt Ranch.

Peter Nonacs: Associate Professor in the Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology, and Evolution, at UCLA.  Dr. Nonacs serves as UCLA representative to the UC Natural Reserve System Advisory Committee. Nonacs research interests are behavioral ecology and social evolution, using both theoretical and experimental approaches.

Thomas B. Smith: Professor in the Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology, and Evolution, and Director of the Center for Tropical Research, Institute of the Environment at UCLA. Dr. Smith is UCLA’s representative to the UC Natural Reserve System University-wide Advisory Committee.

Hartmut Walter: Professor of Geography. Dr. Walter has continued his studies of the endemic birds of the Channel Islands. He is particularly concerned with the still unprotected island subspecies of the Loggerhead Shrike that is confined to S. Catalina and S. Cruz Islands. This population is extremely small (estimate: < 50 individuals). He has also started a project monitoring the population dynamics of small falcons in California and Italy. He spent part of the summer in the German and Italian Alps.