January 8, 2001
UCSC plays role in oak ecosystems study funded by Packard Foundation Grant
The University of California Natural Reserve System has received a $263,600 grant
from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to develop the framework for a long-term
research, monitoring, and training program to restore and manage California's threatened
coastal-oak ecosystems.
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| California's coastal oak woodlands are threatened by biological factors as well as development. Photo: John N. Thompson |
More than 3 million acres of California's oak woodlands and grassland ecosystems have been identified as being at risk. These ecosystems are in decline biologically and are also being lost to residential and agricultural development.
"We've had this piecemeal approach for decades," said John N. Thompson, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, citing news stories about a fungus threatening oak trees as one example. "The idea here was to take a concerted look."
An interdisciplinary team of experts will assess the current state of scientific knowledge of California foothill woodland and grassland ecosystems. It will also identify suitable sites--both NRS reserves and non-UC sites--where research, monitoring and training programs can be conducted over the next decade.
Thompson and Press bring two different areas of expertise to the project. Thompson, whose specialty is plant and insect interactions, will be looking at the biological side of the problem. Press, associate professor of environmental studies, will draw on his background in environmental policy, particularly land preservation in California.
Press noted that many of the state's oak woodlands are in areas that are both desirable and easy to build in. "Any successful efforts are going to require that private landowners face incentives for restoration," Press said. He said the project will look at "what's been successful and what hasn't."
The oak trees are not listed as an endangered species, Press explained, meaning that preservationists are not able to get the same kind of state and federal government support that has been crucial to other environmental efforts.
State agencies and private landowners will eventually need to be involved in preservation of oak woodlands, Thompson said. "We need to get everyone talking to one another."
A wide range of factors, from genetic and evolutionary processes in plant life to human population dynamics and urban sprawl, will be addressed during the project, Thompson said.
Studies have shown that even on undeveloped lands, many oak species are failing to reproduce. In fact, in many areas of coastal California, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find blue oaks and valley oaks that are less than 75 years old.
Funding for the project comes from the Packard Foundation's Conserving California Landscapes Initiative.
"The award demonstrates the foundation's understanding that preserving open space is only the beginning of saving the biological diversity of oak woodlands and that informed stewardship and scientifically sound management and monitoring are also needed," said UC Santa Barbara environmental scientist Frank Davis, the project's principal investigator.
In addition to Davis, Thompson and Press, core participants include, from UC Santa Barbara, Claudia Tyler, and Jim Reichman, director, National Institute of Ecological Analysis and Synthesis; from UC Berkeley, Carla D'Antonio and Mark Stromberg; from UC Davis, Susan Harrison and Kevin Rice; from the Nature Conservancy of California, Sanjayan Muttulingam; from the UC Office of the President, Alexander Glazer, director, Natural Reserve System.
The Marine Science Institute at UC Santa Barbara will administer the grant.
