Kenneth S. Norris
Rancho Marino Reserve

 Annual Reports

2001-2002 Annual Highlights

Administration/Stewardship

Administration and stewardship of the reserve began 1 January 2001. An inventory of species found on the reserve and in the adjacent intertidal continues. 

Groups of up to 25 have camped at the reserve. The RV and trailer provide kitchen facilities, showers and 8 bunks for reserve users. There is an outhouse. A small tractor with implements and truck are available to support researchers, classes and perform needed maintenance on the reserve.

An old greenhouse and garden area have been restored and native plants with locally collected seeds are being grown.

We continue to remove isolated invasive weeds (ex. pampas grass, Myoporum, hemlock, fennel, ice plant and yellow star thistle). Large areas of wild radish, mustard, milk and Italian thistle were mowed this past year. We have weeded dense patches of Reed fescue (Festuca arundinacea) and Bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare) from isolated areas, in an attempt to stop their spreading.

We have provided oversight of the ownerís residences, including rodent control, minor maintenance and mowing for fire safety. We have worked with owner to upgrade fences and have trees trimmed for fire safety. Reserve signs have been installed on reserve fences and the coastal bluff.

A draft management plan is being developed.

The reserve manager has appealed a county parksí erosion control project downstream and adjacent to the reserve, to the California Coastal Commission. The proposed project would alter the course of a coastal stream and incise a coastal bluff. The Coastal Commission has also appealed this project and it will be reviewed at its February 2003 meeting. The reserve director is also serving as the Science/Education representative on the Marine Life Protection Act (2000) Morro Bay Regional Working Group. The group is to propose areas for a network of Marine Protected Areas from Big Sur to Pt. Conception by January 2005.  He is also an active participant in the UC-sponsored Monterey Pine Forest Ecology Cooperative. The coop has provided a $3,000 grant to establish Monterey pine demographic studies.

The Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino Reserve continues to provide UC with a relatively undisturbed and protected study site on Californiaís central coast.Its location is an important biogeographical location for both marine and terrestrial species, as northern and southern species merge.

The marine habitat (which includes 3km of coastline) has been recommended as a ìNo Takeî Marine Reserve, as part of the California Marine Life Protection Act of 2000.  PISCO has established intertidal sites, and will set-up a subtidal monitoring and sea temperature mooring sites in 2002. Sea otters, sea lions and harbor seals are abundant on the rocks and waters adjacent to the reserve. Coastal prairie grasslands are one of Californiaís most endangered habitats. The reserveís coastal prairie has an abundance of native California grasses, grazed and ungrazed areas and invasive grasses.

Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) is a federal species of concern and listed by the California Native Plant Society, List 1B.

Coastal live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) live as an understory tree in the pine forest.  The threat of ìSudden Oak Deathî disease looms just to the north of the reserve. Transects in the forest have been established for a demographic study. Trees have been tagged, mapped and measured in 4 different age structured stands of Monterey Pine and Coastal Live Oaks.

The owner calls the Reserve Manager regularly to review the ìmonthlyî reports he submits and discuss conservation issues.

The activity level on the reserve during its second year of existence continues to grow as University level researchers and classes discover it s unique resources.

Use by Instructional Groups

A number of University-level classes visited the Reserve this year, including:

UC Santa Barbara

ï Invertebrate Zoology

UC Los Angeles

ï Field Methods in Ecology visited the intertidal

ï Invertebrate Zoology visited the intertidal

            ï Marine Biology Field Quarter explored the intertidal, observed shorebirds, and

            marine mammals 

UC Santa Cruz

ï Field Methods in Animal Biology explored the reserve,
              trapped small mammals, and surveyed sea

California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo

ï Field Botany explored the reserveís plant communities and updated the reserveís   plant species list

ï Fossils and Evolution explored the intertidal

California State Universtiy at Northridge

ï Marine Botany explored the intertidal

Gustavus Adolphus College, Minnesota

ï Natural History of California surveyed the reserveís intertidal, grasslands,
               ponds, and forest

Moss Landing Marine Laboratory

ï Phycology visited the intertidal

Research

California Polytechnic State University Professor Antonio Garcia and University of Plymouth, United Kingdom, Professor Martin Stokes are mapping the geomorphology of alluvial fans on the reserve.

UC Santa Cruz graduate student Will Satterthwaite (Advisor: Ingrid Parker) has tried three projects addressing questions on seed dispersal, safe sites and recruitment Monterey pines, an annual lupine (Lupinus nanus) and native grasses.

UC Santa Barbara graduate student Terry Josselyn (Advisor: Michael Glassow) is planning to survey the ranchís archaeological sites and catalog artifacts collected by a local archaeologist Clay Singer during recent construction.

Canterbury University, New Zealand faculty David Schiel, and a post-doc and graduate student surveyed the Fucalean seaweeds on the reserve as part of his Pacific Coast survey.

UC Berkeley graduate student Lisa Grubisha (Adisor: Thomas Brun) has collected fungi as part of her study of the evolution and genetics of mycorhizoidal fungi associated with pine trees.

UC Santa Cruz graduate student Laura Yeates (Advisor: Terrie Williams) has purchased and installed a weather station and subtidal ocean temperature moorings as part of her thesis work on sea otter physiology.

UC Los Angeles graduate student Jayson Smith (Advisor: Peggy Fong) is studying the geographical variation and long term changes in mussel beds along the California coast.

US Forest Service researchers completed another season of their study testing the inheritability of Monterey Pines resistance to Pitch Canker.

California State University at Northridge Professor Steve Dudgeon has established a site as part of his study on ìFactors Maintaining a Latitudinal Gradient of Sexuality in a Pacific Coast Seaweedî.

The UC Santa Cruz Mineral Management Service (MMS) Intertidal crew with Pete Raimondi continues to monitor black abalone sites on the reserve. No diseased abalone have been observed in the most recent surveys.  During their March black abalone survey they established 5 owl limpet (Lottia gigantea) plots (2m diameter each) adjacent to their abalone plots.

UC Santa Cruz researchers from Jim Estes laboratory, led by graduate student Tim Tinker, continue to visit the reserve almost daily to monitor the movement of radio tagged sea otters, and observe their diving and feeding behavior.

UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz and Oregon State University PISCO (Partnership for the Integrated Study of Coastal Oceans) groups continue to visit and monitor their invertebrate recruitment and mussel growth sites on the intertidal rocks.  They have added mussel model temperature loggers.

UC Santa Barbara graduate student Ben Halpern (Bob Warner laboratory), using the reserve as one of several sites, completed his study of how hermit crab populations are affected by habitat (shell) availability.

California Academy of Sciences researcher Galen Rathbun and Don Canestro continue their study of red legged frogs (Rana aurora draytonii) to determine if females lay more than one egg mass in a breeding season , the frequency of mating in males and temporal and spatial patterns of egg laying in females.

Universtiy of Nebraska Professor Alexandra Basolo collected hermit crabs as part of her study on shell choice and parasitism.
 

Public Service

As the agreement with the owner limits reserve use to University-level class use and research there has been no public service activity on the reserve. 

2001-2002 University and College Classes

Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology 116: Invertebrate Zoology
Instructor: Todd Huspeni, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, UC Santa Barbara

Organismic Biology, Ecology and Evolution 103: Marine Tetrapods
Instructor: Barney Schlinger, Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology and Evolution, UC Los Angeles

Organismic Biology, Ecology and Evolution 105: Invertebrate Biology
Instructor: Cheryl Ann Zimmer, Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology and Evolution, UC Los Angeles

Organismic Biology, Ecology and Evolution 136: Field Methods in Ecology
Instructor: Peggy Fong, Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology and Evolution, UC Los Angeles

Ecology & Evolution Biology 141: Field Methods in Animal Biology
Instructor: Don Croll, Department of Ecology and Evolution Biology, UC Santa Cruz

Marine Science 131: Marine Botany
Instructor: Diana Steller, Department of Biology, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, San Jose State University

Biology 123: Natural History of California
Instructor: Pamela Kittelson, Department of Biology, Gustavus Adolphus College, St.Peter, Minnesota

Biology 504: Psychology
Instructor: Robert Carpenter, Department of Biology, California State University at Northridge
Biological Sciences 333: Field Botany
Instructor: David Keil, Department of Biological Sciences, California Polytechnic State University
 

2001-2002 Publications

Presentations

Dissertations
Hayes, G.  2002.  Cattle Grazing Impacts on Annual Forbs and Vegetation Composition of Mesic Grasslands in California.  Ph.D. Dissertation.  University of California, Santa Cruz.
 

2000-2001 Annual Highlights

ADMINISTRATION AND STEWARDSHIP
Administrative and stewardship aspects of reserve management began January 1, 2001, when Don Canestro, the reserve director, began working onsite. An inventory of species found on the reserve is in progress. Habitats covered and major contributors include:

ï Intertidal: Marine Intertidal Network Workshop participants.
ï Terrestrial plants: Mark Stromberg, Carla DíAntonio.
ï Birds and other vertebrates: UC Santa Cruz Biology Field quarter class.
ï Biologists and managers from UC Extension, U.S.N.F.S., U.S.D.A. Natural Resources.
ï Conservation Services, C.D.F. and neighboring ranchers visited the reserve and provided input and ideas for a management plan.

The Marine Intertidal Network met at the adjacent Camp Ocean Pines and developed a species list for the reserveís intertidal.

The UC Office of the President (UCOP) sponsored Monterey Pine Forest Ecology Cooperative also met at Camp Ocean Pines and provided input for the forestry management plan.

Exotic plant species (pampas grass, fennel, Myosporum) eradication has begun on a small scale, and cattle have been brought on to maintain grazed areas for comparison with ungrazed areas on the reserve.

RESEARCH
The research program has begun on the reserve with nine projects active during the first six months, with 76 persons (researchers and assistants) participating for 164 person-days.

Marine biology:
ï UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz: P.I.S.C.O. (Partnership for the Integrated Studies of Coastal Oceans) established and sampled an intertidal comprehensive survey site and set-up recruitment and mussel growth sites, as part of their study on the interaction of nearshore oceanographic environment with coastal marine communities.
ï UC Santa Cruz: Jim Esteís Lab, led by graduate student Tim Tinker, is studying the population dynamics and biology of the California sea otter at the southern end of its range.
ï UC Santa Cruz/Minerals Management Service: Pete Raimondiís Lab set-up black abalone monitoring sites.
ï UC San Diego: Bonnie Becker collected invertebrates for studies of the shell microchemistry of molluscan settlers (Mytilus and Littorina) to determine their place of origin.
ï UC Santa Barbara: Ben Halpern set-up hermit crab study sites.
ï UC Berkeley: Jim Kurpius collected the marine snail Littorina keena for his population genetic study.

Plant ecology:
ï UC Santa Cruz: Grey Hayes sampled grazed and ungrazed areas for his research on disturbance effects of cattle grazing on coastal prairie wildflowers.
ï U.S. Forest Service: Dennis Ringnes fertilized and collected pine cones for their Monterey Pine pitch canker inheritance study.
ï UC Davis: Virgina Boucher, collected seeds from California poppies as part of a quantitative genetic study of annual versus perennial life histories.

UNIVERSITY-LEVEL INSTRUCTION
University and college-level instruction has begun with the UC Los Angeles Marine Botany Course and UC Santa Cruz Environmental Studies Field Quarter. Several faculty from UC and California State University campuses have visited the site and will hopefully return with classes. Total use included 41 persons for 41 person-days.

PUBLIC SERVICE
As the agreement with the owner limits reserve use to University level research and instruction there has been K-12 or community outreach program established.

The Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino Reserve provides UC with a relatively undisturbed and protected study site on Californiaís central coast. Its location is an important biogeographical location for both marine and terrestrial species, as northern and southern species merge. The marine habitat (which includes nearly 2 miles of coastline) has been recommended as a ìno takeî Marine Reserve, as part of the California Marine Life Protection Act of 2000. P.I.S.C.O. has established intertidal sites, and plans to set-up a subtidal monitoring and oceanographic site in 2001. Sea otters, sea lions and harbor seals are abundant on the rocks and waters adjacent to the reserve. Coastal prairie is one of Californiaís most endangered habitats. The reserveís coastal prairie has a healthy abundance of native California grasses, grazed and ungrazed sites and invasive grasses. Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) is a federal species of concern and listed by the California Native Plant Society, List 1B. Some 36 special status or endangered species have been found in or near Monterey pine forests, and may be dependent on this specific forest habitat. Coastal live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) live as an understory tree in the pine forest. Inventory and monitoring of these habitats has begun and a management plan is evolving. The activity level on the reserve during its first six months of existence has exceeded expectations and will continue to grow as University-level researchers and classes discover its unique resources.

2000- 2001 Research Summaries

Shell Microchemistry of Molluscan Settlers_
Bonnie J. Becker, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego_
Ph.D. Advisor: Paul Dayton, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego__

This project is looking at the feasibility of using shell microchemistry of molluscan settlers (mytilus and littorina) to determine place of origin. A small amount (<500 mL) of algae is being collected to be picked in the lab for individuals. They will then provide a different signal from individuals collected in San Diego county. Funding: Cabrillo National Monument.

Collaborative Research: Experimental Quantitative Genetics of Annual vs. Perennial Life Histories in California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica)_
Virginia Boucher, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California at Davis__

California poppies are unique and interesting because they demonstrate an extremely wide range of life-history strategies - ranging from obligate annuals to long-lived perennials. This project is generateing within-population diallel crosses and multi-generation among-population line crosses to estimate heretabilities of various life-history traits and their genetic correlations, plasticities and the fitness consequences of hybridizing populations. Work done on site includes only collections of seeds of local genotypes.
Funding: Self-funded

Settlement, Growth, and Survival of Organisms across a Biogeographic Gradient_
Steve Gaines, Marine Science Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara_
Robert Warner, Marine Science Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara_
Carol Blanchette, Marine Science Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara__

The goal this research is to understand the interaction of the nearshore oceanographic environment with coastal marine communities along the West Coast of North America from Washington to Baja, California. This includes quantifying patterns of distribution, abundance and diversity of the biota in nearshore ecosystems, and determining how ecological, evolutionary and oceanographic processes influence these patterns.
Funding: Packard Foundation.

Population Limitation in Species with Stage-structured Life Histories: Habitat as a Limiting Resource_
Benjamin Halpern, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California at Santa Barbara_
Ph.D. Advisor: Robert Warner, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California at Santa Barbara__

This project is attempting to determine how relative habitat availability limits population size for species with distinct juvenile and adult stages in their life-histories. Hermit crabs, which use different snail shell species as juveniles then when adults, are an abundant and convenient species with which to investigate this question, although any species with distinct stages in their life history ( for example amphibians, fish that use nursery habitats, etc.) are likely to be limited by similar processes. Furthermore, hermit crabs have traditionally been assumed to be limited by adult shell availability. I propose that juvenile shell availability, or juvenile habitat in a more general sense, will prove to be the greater population bottleneck. Results from this investigation will provide useful guidance to management and conservation efforts that include species with distinct juvenile stages.
Funding: Partnership for the Interdisciplinary Study of Coastal Oceans (PISCO).

The Role of Cattle Grazing in Conserving Grassland Biodiversity_
Grey Hayes, Department of Environmental Studies, University of California at Santa Cruz_
Ph.D. Advisor: Karen Holl, Department of Environmental Studies, University of California at Santa Cruz__

This project is monitoring vegetation using 10-50 meter line transects, 5 in ungrazed and 5 in recently grazed coastal prairie grassland. A pin drop method at 1 meter intervals measures vegetation composition. A 1 meter wide belt transect centered on the line transect is used to monitor native annual wildflowers and species not encountered in the line transect. Soil cores are collected at 5 meter intervals, composited, and 500 gram sample from the grazed and ungrazed site will be taken for lab analysis. Herbarium samples of all species encountered are collected and deposited at the UC Jepson Herbarium as vouchers.
Funding: United States Department of Agriculture._

Phylogeography of Littorina keenae in the Eastern Pacific_
James W. Kurpius, Department of Integrative Biology, University of California at Berkeley_
Ph.D. Advisor: David R. Lindberg, Department of Integrative Biology, University of California at Berkeley__

I am collecting Littorina keenae for a population genetic study along the California and Baja California coast. This gastropod species is common in the high intertidal of rocky shores. Specimens will be used for DNA sequencing, and approximately 10-20 individuals will be ananlyzed form each site. Thus far, I have collected t Ft, Ross (Co.), Bodega Head (Co.), Sandollar Beach (Co.), Ragged Point, Jalama Beach, Santa Barbara, and Ventura.
Funding: Self-funded

Monitoring of Rocky Intertidal Resources Along the Central and Southern California Mainland_
Pete Raimondi, and Melissa Wilson, Department of Biology, University of California at Santa Cruz __
Rich Ambrose, and Steve Murray, University of California at Los Angeles___

The proposed research at Rancho Marino would be part of a long-term monitoring project that includes 9 sites in Santa Barbara County and 5 sites in San Luis Obispo County. This project is part of a regional intertidal monitoring network sponsored by the Minerals Management Service, which includes sites in Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego Counties in addition to the intertidal plants and animals along the central and southern California coast. Information of coastal biota in these areas would be essential in the event of an oil spill or other major impact. In addition, the monitoring studies would yield important data on population dynamics on a local and regional scale which can be utilized for more effective resource management as well as provide fundamental ecological knowledge about the dynamics of the systems. Over the last 8 years, we have observed sequential dramatic declines in black abalone populations at our northern Santa Barbara populations are currently monitored at Piedras Blancas and Pt. Sierra Nevada in San Luis Obisbo County. However, a large gap exists between the northernmost site where withering syndrome has devastated black abalone (Occulto -- at the border of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obisbo Co.), and the southernmost site where a healthy black abalone population exists (Piedras Blancas). An additional site at Rancho Marino (which contains a healthy black abalone population), would allow us to better assess the northward progression of withering syndrome.
Funding: Minerals Management Service

Inheritance of Resistence to Pitch Canker_
Dennis Ringnes, and Thomas Allison, Department of Central Zone Genetic Resource Program, United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service_

This project involves controlled pollination of flowers on selected Monterey Pines among the Cambria population that have been tested for resistance to pitch canker. Pollen used in this project is from these same selected Monterey Pines. Tags are placed on branches to identify the flowers that have been pollinated and allow future collection of all cones that have been cross pollinated prior to seed dispersal. Some naturally pollinated cones may be collected from the selected trees as well. Seedlings will be grown from seeds extracted from these cones and inoculated with the pitch canker fungus at UC Davis plant pathology lab of Dr. Tom Gordon. Resistance and susceptibility data resulting from this project will provide valuable information on the inheritance to pitch canker.
Funding: United States Department of Agriculture.

Population Dynamics and Biology of the California Sea Otter at the Southern End of its Range_
M. Tim Tinker, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California at Santa Cruz_
Ph.D. Advisor: James Estes, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California at Santa Cruz__

Our research activities have two main objectives: 1) to better understand the factors responsible for current population trends in the California sea otter; and 2) to examine the inter-relationships between nutritional requirements, thermoregulation and activity patterns, and the ways in which these relationships determine habitat requirements. The recent decline in the California sea otter population is almost certainly a consequence of increased mortality, however, the cause(s) of this increased mortality are currently unknown. Contrasts of diet, time-activity budgets, movements and behavioral patterns, survival and reproduction of tagged animals will help ascertain whether the increased mortality is food-related.
Funding: Minerals Management Service, Coastal Marine Institute.

2000-2001 Publications

No publications.

2000-2001 University and College Classes

Organismic Biology, Ecology and Evolution 101:  Marine Botany

Instructor: Peggy Fong, Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology and Evolution, UC Los Angeles