Whats beyond the fence

1
Whats beyond the fence? Ecology and use of the
Bernard Field Station
2

• 1. What is the BFS?
• 2. Why is it important?
• (how we use the BFS)
• Why is it important?
• (biological value of the BFS)
• 4. How did we get here?
• 5. Where can we go now?

Along the way some common questions.
3

• 1. What is the BFS?
• 2. Why is it important?
• (how we use the BFS)
• Why is it important?
• (biological value of the BFS)
• 4. How did we get here?
• 5. Where can we go now?

4
Bernard Field Station 86 acres north of
Foothill Variety native habitats Coastal Sage
scrub Riparian live oak forest Aquatic/vernal
pools Grasslands
5
Photo J. Wright
6
Photo N. Karnovsky
7
(No Transcript)
8
(No Transcript)
9
Some history

• 1924 Land north of Foothill donated by Miss
  Scripps for educational use.
• Various parcels sold and/or developed Rancho
  Santa Ana Botanic Garden, School of Theology,
  Golf course.
• 1976 Bernard Field station established and
  fenced on 86 acres. Phake lake and vernal pools
  dug.
• Various proposals made for building on Western
  part of BFS (e.g. 1997), but development did not
  take place.

10
Question Isnt the real BFS only about 45
acres adjacent to the proposed development site?
The BFS was established in 1976 as 86 acres
(enclosed by a fence) north of Foothill
Boulevard. This land is all still part of the
field station, and is currently used for teaching
and research. The CUC agreed not to develop
about 45 acres in the middle of the BFS for 50
years under the terms of a lawsuit settlement
reached with a community group.
11
(No Transcript)
12

• 1. What is the BFS?
• 2. Why is it important?
• (how we use the BFS)
• Why is it important?
• (biological value of the BFS)
• 4. How did we get here?
• 5. Where can we go now?

13
Teaching
Photo N. Karnovsky
14
In the past 4 years, at least 28 courses have
used the BFS gt7200 user weeks for teaching and
research
Joint Science Accelerated Integrated
Science Sequence Introductory Biology Concepts in
Biology Astronomy Ecology Animal
Behavior Environmental Science HMC Ecology and
Environmental Biology Experimental Ecology
Laboratory General Chemistry Laboratory Public
Speaking for Science and Citizenship CGU Topics
in U.S. Environmental History
Pitzer Protecting Nature Theory and Practice in
Environmental Education A Sense of Place Doing
Natural History Plant Classification Writing
Nature Pomona Introductory Genetics Introductor
y Ecological and Evolutionary Biology Invertebrate
Biology Field Methods in Archaeology Ecology and
Evolution of Plants Vertebrate Biology Advanced
Animal Ecology Microbial Ecology Microbiology Ecol
ogy for Non-Majors
15
Photo N. Karnovsky
16
Photo N. Karnovsky
17
Photo S. Schenk
18
Student and faculty research
Photos D. Thomson
19
Photo N. Karnovsky
20
Plant Communities Define Two Woodrat Species
Habitats Neotoma fuscipes and Neotoma
lepida Chiji Ochiagha, Dept. of Biology, Pomona
College, Claremont, CA
Abstract The woodrats, Neotoma fuscipes and N.
lepida, are often sympatric in the American
southwest. Though N. fuscipes is behaviorally
dominant over N. lepida, the latter can utilize
certain species of plants for food the other
cannot. I predicted that the two woodrats would
divide niche space according to plant
communities. I found that N. fuscipes tend to
live in coastal sage scrub while N. lepida tend
to live in riversidian alluvial fan sage scrub.
Figure 4. N. fuscipes and N. lepida have
different plant species growing from their houses.
Results Most N. fuscipes were caught in areas of
coastal sage scrub and almost all N. lepida were
caught in riversidian alluvial fan sage
scrub. Plant species in coastal sage scrub
included trees and large shrubs, which tended to
be larger plants than those found in riversidian
alluvial fan sage scrub, which contained species
more adapted to xeric environments including
cacti. N. Fuscipes and N. lepida had different
plant species growing from their houses. The
only plant species both species had in their
houses was Yerba Santa, a small shrub common in
coastal sage scrub and riversidian alluvial fan
sage scrub.
Introduction Niche specialization is often found
where two sympatric species live and compete for
the same resources. The behaviorally dominant
dusky-footed woodrat (Neotoma fuscipes) typically
excludes the desert woodrat (Neotoma lepida) from
both species preferred food resources (Cameron
1971). The desert woodrat is able to compete by
consuming plants which the dusky-footed woodrat
is not able to sustain itself upon (Meserve
1974). These plants include cacti such as
prickly pear and cholla, which the desert woodrat
also uses to fortify its houses (Meserve 1974). I
hypothesized that the two woodrat species would
divide the space which in which they appear to
live sympatric with each other by specializing
upon different plant communities.
Figures 1a and b. N. fuscipes were mainly caught
in coastal sage scrub while N. lepida were mostly
caught in riversidian alluvial fan sage scrub.
Other 15
Other 6
Discussion I found that Neotoma fuscipes and
Neotoma lepida appear to separate the Bernard
Field Station by dominating one of the two main
plant communities found there. However, some
overlap in range exists, leading to the
possibility of the two species being more
sympatric the data indicates. Houses of both
woodrat species were found in the plant
communities where the other species dominated.
This could indicate that the species coexist more
than the data indicates or it could be that these
houses are relics of a time when the plant
communities had different boundaries than they
currently do since individual houses may last
more than 4000 years (Jackson et al. 2002).
N. fuscipes Vertical bars Trees / Large
Shrubs Horizontal bars Small shrubs/cacti
N. lepida Vertical bars Trees / Large
Shrubs Horizontal bars Small shrubs/cacti
Materials and Methods My study was conducted at
the Bernard Field Station between March and May
of 2005. The Bernard Field Station includes
several plant communities. This study focused on
coastal sage scrub and riversidian alluvial fan
sage scrub. Woodrats were captured using Sherman
live traps. Some woodrats were radio collared in
order to confirm where they lived and to get a
general idea of their foraging range. We
included only data from the 19 houses we had
confirmed were active with a known resident out
of the 246 houses we mapped. Transects were
sampled by Megan Gall, who ran three parallel
north-south transects ten meters long and ten
meters apart from each other, typically focusing
upon areas with confirmed active woodrat houses.
Figures 2a and b. Trees and large shrubs covered
more distance on transects near N. fuscipes
houses while small shrubs and cacti covered more
distance on transects near N. lepida houses.
Acknowledgements I would like to thank Dr. Nina
Karnovsky for providing me with the opportunity
to study the woodrats this summer. I would also
like to thank Christine Cass, Colin Fiske, and
Megan Gall for helping in data collection and
analysis. Finally, I thank Dr. Jason Price for
reading my work and being helpful in the lab.
Funded by the Mellon Grant.
N. fuscipes Vertical bars Trees / Large
Shrubs Horizontal bars Small shrubs/cacti
N. lepida Vertical bars Trees / Large
Shrubs Horizontal bars Small shrubs/cacti
Literature Cited Cameron, G.N. 1971. Niche
overlap and competition in woodrats. Journal of
Mammology 52 288-296. Jackson, S.T. Lyford,
M.E. and Betancourt, J.L. 2002. A 4000-year
record of woodland vegetation from Wind River
Canyon, central Wyoming. West North American
Naturalist 62 405-413. Meserve, P. 1974.
Ecological relationships of two sympatric
woodrats in a California coastal sagescrub
community. Journal of Mammology 55 442-447.
Figures 3a and b. N. fuscipes houses were
covered by trees and large shrubs and N. lepida
houses were covered by smaller shrubs.
21
(No Transcript)
22
Physiological EcologyLizard Corral
GeophysicsEastern San Gabriel GPS Geodesy
Project Monitoring station
Computer ScienceLizardNet mote
Monitoring and experimental resources
23
Outreach and K-12 education
Photo P. Faulstich
24
(No Transcript)
25
Question Cant you just go off campus?

• No, this is virtually impossible.
• Time and travel logistics
• Access for repeated observations/experiments
• Safety
• Integrity of equipment and experiments
• Lack of appropriate nearby sites
• Permitting for use/manipulation
• The bottom line BFS key to making hands-on
  learning and research experiences available for
  all students.

26
Question Doesnt field work at most colleges
involve going to some distant site?
When I was a student at (fill in with name of
large research university), all the people doing
that kind of work went far from campus.
Different mission, different resources Many top
liberal arts colleges (our peers) have land set
aside for field teaching and research, either on
or very near campus. E.g. campus woods
(Swarthmore, Carleton, Davidson, Williams, Colby,
Vassar) Without access to these resources, our
students are at a real disadvantage.
27
Question Cant teaching and research happen on
the remaining land even if there is development?
For small, isolated habitats, even small
decreases big consequences. Tonight your
chance to ask one of the people who first came up
with the science (Jared Diamond).
28
The Species Area Relationship
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageSAR.gif
The BFS is already very small and many
populations are probably at their margin. It is
unlikely any more habitat loss can be tolerated
without substantially damaging the teaching,
research and ecological value.
29
(No Transcript)
30

• 1. What is the BFS?
• 2. Why is it important?
• (how we use the BFS)
• Why is it important?
• (biological value of the BFS)
• 4. How did we get here?
• 5. Where do we go now?

31
What is a biodiversity hotspot?
http//www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/Do
cuments/cihotspotmap.pdf
32
The Nature Conservancy recently announced a major
new initiative targeted at the worlds most
endangered habitat
The Mediterranean Biome
http//www.mediterraneanaction.net/ma_v2/about_bio
me/index.jsp
33
Coastal Sage Scrub is a community in the
Mediterranean biome especially rich in species
diversity and endemism.
It is also extremely endangered.
34
What most of us think of when we hear
endangered
http//news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41073000/
http//www.thegreenhead.com/imgs/california-redwoo
d-2.jpg
35
A quick comparison How important are these
habitats to conservation of biodiversity?
Coastal Sage Scrub
North Coast Redwoods
http//www.thegreenhead.com/imgs/california-redwoo
d-2.jpg
36
Not included arthropods (CSS very diverse)
http//cnps.web.aplus.net/cgi-bin/inv/inventory.cg
i
http//www.worldwildlife.org/wildfinder/
37
Coast Redwoods
Coastal Sage Scrub
World Wildlife Fund critically endangered
World Wildlife Fund critically endangered
USGS endangered (85-98 decline)
USGS endangered (85-98 decline)
(Map remaining CSS)
38
What kind of diversity does BFS support?
Nevins barberry Federally-listed endangered
species Endemic to CSS/chaparral
39
California legless lizard California Species of
Special Concern
40
Blainvilles Horned Lizard and Western Pond
Turtle California Species of Special Concern
41
Riversidean Alluvial Fan Sage Scrub
An especially threatened type of CSS
42
A large diversity of arthropods, which are not
even well described yet.
Photo J. Wright
43
Photo J. Wright
44
(No Transcript)
45
Many native plants.
Photos N. Hamlett
46
Photo J. Wright
47
Reptiles.
Photo N. Karnovsky
48
A diversity of native birds.
Photo N. Hamlett
49
Photo N. Karnovsky
50
Small mammals.
Photo N. Karnovsky
51
Question Can a place like the BFS really make a
difference in protecting biodiversity?

• Mark Schwartz, UC Davis (lab where I did my
  post-doc)
• Biodiversity is in our backyard, not just out
  there somewhere
• (most people in Bay Area live within 10 mi of a
  rare/endangered plant)
• Relatively small, local reserves matter a lot for
  rare plants
• (and likely other rare things, too).

52

• Why is it important (to our campuses)?
• The BFS serves as a classroom, laboratory and
  library for hundreds of students and many faculty
  in Claremont. It is a critical academic resource
  in the same sense as any of our buildings.
• There is no way to replace this resource if it is
  diminished or lost.

53
Why is it important (even beyond our campuses)?

• The BFS is among a very few remaining places that
  supports unique, biologically rich and critically
  endangered CSS communities.
• As a result, many people both within and beyond
  the colleges will see major ethical implications
  to decisions about development of this land.
• Some may consider this as a problem or a barrier,
  but it can also be viewed as both a tremendous
  resource and an opportunity.

54

• 1. What is the BFS?
• 2. Why is it important?
• (how we use the BFS)
• Why is it important?
• (biological value of the BFS)
• 4. How did we get here?
• 5. Where do we go now?

55
How did we get here? Good question. The process
has been troubling to many in our community.
Where do we go now? Class project.
56

• How can we best engineer a green parking lot on
  top of endangered habitat?
• Is this the right question?
• How can the colleges take advantage of the unique
  and valuable character of this land in achieving
  their missions, while holding in trust what is
  irreplaceable about this resource?
• (Institute of Environmental Design?)

57
Photo N. Hamlett