My Restoration Ecology class spent the day in the Laguna Santa Rosa, helping plant sedges on a site being restored by the Laguna Foundation. Hard work, and good fun.
Laguna de Santa Rosa
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Point Reyes Field Trip
Another Restoration Ecology field trip . . . this time, to Point Reyes, to visit the long-term field exclosure experiment being conducted by Dr. Hall Cushman, to investigate the effects of Tule elk on vegetation. We also practiced some field sampling techniques. We did see a number of Tule elk, although I didn’t manage to get any good photos. Still, they’re magnificent to see.
Science 120 Field Trip
Fantastic field trip today with A Watershed Year (Science 120 freshman experience course). First, we visited the brand new salmon viewing area at the water treatment facility in Santa Rosa, and then over to Occidental to look at salmon restoration efforts along Dutch Bill Creek.
Native Turtles Return to Mountain Lake
Originally posted on the San Francisco Bay Area National Parks Science and Learning Blog
Although no one knows exactly when western pond turtles vanished from Mountain Lake in the Presidio of San Francisco, they are known to have been abundant historically. Now, as part of the ongoing restoration of Mountain Lake, this long-extirpated species is back. On July 18th, 28 western pond turtles reared by the San Francisco Zoo were released into the lake before an audience of more than 70 people. The release follows similar releases of other native species including Pacific chorus frogs and three-spined sticklebacks earlier in the year.
The western pond turtle release is also part of a research effort to determine which of two different release methods is better for the turtles in terms of their stress hormone levels. Half of turtles were brought to Mountain Lake and kept in a protected enclosure for three weeks to acclimate ahead of their release, while the rest were released without an acclimation period. All had their stress hormone levels measured upon their release and are equipped with radio transmitters so they can be relocated and have their hormone levels re-measured in the coming weeks and years. The preliminary results will inform another round of western pond turtle releases at Mountain Lake on September 12th and contribute to knowledge about native species reestablishment efforts in general. Future reestablishment projects at Mountain Lake may include the Pacific newt and the California red-legged frog.
Check out the SF Gate article or the Bay Nature article for additional coverage of the recent western pond turtle release.
Turtle Release
Releasing some of our headstarted turtles back to their natal site. SO PRECIOUS!!!
Ticket to Success
The “Ticket to Success” program is designed to bring elementary and middle school children onto campus, to given them a fun introduction to higher education. I put together a display for the Biology Department, with bunches of interesting specimens from our museum collection.
Muir Woods
Visited Muir Woods yesterday, and took some less-than amazing photos with my iPhone; I was too lazy to bring my SLR, a decision I sort of regret. Although carrying the huge camera with me on the hike we ended up doing wouldn’t have made me happy, so it was probably for the best.
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