California’s coastal prairies form a fragile and patchy network of long-lived, low profile, species-rich herbaceous ecosystems unique to the climate, geology and geography of California’s coastal regions. A steadfast and dominant biological component of the Pleistocene, coastal prairies harbor keystone perennial grass species, along with a multitude of annual and perennial forbs and graminoids. Herbaceous … More California’s Coastal Prairies

Located on the central coast of San Diego County, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve cradles a fragile 1500 acre remnant of rare prehistoric botanical communities and sedimentary landscapes within a sea of urban and suburban development. As a State Reserve, Torrey Pines SNR is one of only 14 public lands in California (out of 279 … More Rare Ecosystems and Sedimentary Landscapes of Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve

California’s coastal seasonal freshwater wetlands usually appear in the late winter through spring, during the wet season of our Mediterranean Climate; yet it’s the heart of the dry season in California, and on the north coast late-season freshwater seep wetlands can be found along the rocky shoreline of the marine terraces within feet of the … More Coastal Habitat Oasis

Steady tectonic uplift of the emergent active coastal margin, combined with the erosional forces of wave dynamics, produces a series, or flight, of stair-stepped geomorphic plateaus, known as marine terraces. Through dating methods such as uranium series dating and acid geochronology of bio- mineralogical materials, as well as cosmogenic radionuclide inventories, marine terraces have been … More Marine Terrace Flights, the Ecological Staircase Effect, and the Evolution of Soils

The California Current is one of the world’s most productive eastern boundary currents, and upwelling is the primary physical factor driving the highly productive marine ecosystem associated with the current. Upwelling occurs when persistent longshore winds create an offshore flow at the surface, which in turn upwells deeper nutrient rich ocean waters along the coast. … More California Current Upwelling System

The subnivean layer, or zone, is the concealed ecotone that forms in winter, uniting and encapsulating the boundary between the earth’s surface and the foundation of a snowpack. The subnivean zone can form under as little as ten inches of snow pack, and provides an insulated environment for wintertime productivity and flourishing trophic connectivity. This … More Biogeography of the Subnivean Zone

California’s Pleistocene Megafauna and the Role of Climate Change in Extinction: The Younger Dryas, the Rise of Wildfire, and the end of an Epoch  The icy life span of the Pleistocene Epoch, commonly referred to as the Ice Age, unfurled for more than two and a half million years, from 2.6 million to 11,000 years … More California’s Pleistocene Megafauna and the Role of Climate Change in Extinction

Serpentinite Habitats in California Serpentinite rock forms the landscapes and soils that support some of California’s most rare and endemic species and habitats. A product of our young and rugged tectonic landscape, serpentinite defines and punctuates the accreted wilderness of the Klamath Mountains, the foothills of the Sierra-Nevada, and the emergent transform slopes and valleys … More Serpentinite Habitats in California

Biogeography of California’s Seasonal Freshwater Wetlands For the purpose of this research, and to get a better understanding of this overwhelming and ecologically vital topic, I have grouped California’s seasonal (vernal, ephemeral) freshwater wetlands into three categories, or associations, based on broad geomorphological distinctions, and differing hydrologic characteristics: coastal seasonal freshwater meadows; valley hardpan vernal … More Biogeography of California’s Seasonal Freshwater Wetlands