Posts Tagged: Chaparral
The Buckeye
Finding an Ecological Niche: A Three-Part Series on Selected Foothill Woodland and Chaparral...
The Blue Oak
Finding an Ecological Niche: Selected Foothill Woodland and Chaparral Species, Part 1 of 3: The...
URGENT: Post Fire Research Opportunities at Hopland REC
HREC and Post-Fire Research Opportunities
What is HREC?
The UC Hopland Research & Extension Center (HREC) is a multi-disciplinary research and education facility in Mendocino County located in the foothills of the Coast Range about two hours north of Berkeley. As part of the UC system for over 65 years, we are stewards of more than 5,300 acres of oak woodland, grassland, chaparral, and riparian environments. Elevation at the center ranges from 500 ft to 3,000 ft. HREC currently maintains a research flock of about 500 breeding ewes that have been the subjects of numerous studies on ranching practices, range management, livestock nutrition, wool production and breeding. Field experiments and demonstrations conducted here since 1951 have led to more than 1,500 publications in animal science, entomology, plant ecology, public health, watershed management, and wildlife biology. Our website is hrec.ucanr.edu.
The River Fire
As part of the Mendocino Complex fire, the River Fire burned through HREC on the evening of July 27 and into July 28. Approximately 3,000 acres of our center burned in this fire. Due to the concentrated efforts of Center staff and Cal Fire crews, all of our employees, residents, sheep, livestock dogs, offices and residences were saved. Below please find the burn map of our property. All of the black area to the north was burned and the dark red patches were areas of vegetation that remained unburned. The fire intensity varied greatly as did oak survival. You will see two smaller burned areas in the southern part of the property that were prescribed burns performed in June of this year.
Research Opportunities
While this was a blow to current research, pastures, and water infrastructure, we also see this as a wonderful opportunity. Due to extensive historical data sets and ongoing research projects, coupled with a variety of grazed and ungrazed pastures, and prescribed burn plots for comparison with wildfire, there is enormous potential for pre- and post-fire studies in the fields of:
- Watersheds and hydrology; fire science; plant science; soil science; entomology and parasitology; wildlife and wildlife ecology; rangeland management; grazing practices as fire suppression…..
To support this research, HREC offers:
- A well maintained network of roads that accesses almost all parts of the property, vehicles to use.
- A fully equipped shop staffed by employees skilled in fabrication and repair of research equipment
o Electrical, wood working, welding and metal fabrication, mechanical
- Skilled staff trained in field work techniques, with long histories of successful research support
- Fiber optic internet with Wi-Fi access throughout headquarters, strong cell service in most areas
- A vault of raw data, photos, and final papers from research conducted at HREC.
- Warehouses for storing equipment, a variety of accommodations from dorms to private houses
- Wet and dry lab space (undergoing renovation during fall 2018, available spring 2019)
- Lysimeter with available watering system, electrical connections, and fiber optic access point
- A research flock of sheep consisting of just under 500 breeding ewes, with all needed facilities and RFID tracking
- Fenced pastures and biological reserve areas for different treatment plots and controls
- A fully equipped conference facility with A/V equipment and fiber optic connections
Next Steps
- Zoom meeting on September 7th, 10am. More in depth information, Q&A.
- Field day on October 19th, 10am-5pm. Presentations, brainstorming, Q&A, site tours, available accommodations
- To register for either event follow this link: http://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=25451
Contact: HREC Interim Director John Bailey, jtbailey@ucanr.edu, (707) 744-1424 x 112
Thomas Fire Recovery - Information and Volunteer Opportunities
Ventura County residents looking for information about Thomas Fire Recovery will want to check http://venturacountyrecovers.org/community-meetings/ for the very latest information from county, state, and federal disaster relief agencies. In Santa Barbara, residents will want to check here - https://www.countyofsb.org/fire-recovery.sbc
The agriculture community will be interested in a UCCE hosted workshop on fire and frost damage and preparation January 10th at the Agriculture Museum in Santa Paula - http://ucanr.edu/sites/SAFELandscapes/?calitem=396547&g=29423
If you are looking for information about or volunteer opportunities to help with the recovery of natural areas, however, there are a few events coming up:
Ventura Land Trust will be hosting a volunteer opportunity for Martin Luther King Jr. Day January 15th at their Big Rock Preserve, http://www.venturalandtrust.org/mlk_20180115, and will also be hosting a lecture by my colleague Dr. Sean Anderson from CSU Channel Islands January 17th at 7:00 PM at Poinsettia Pavilion - http://www.venturalandtrust.org/lecture_thomas_fire.
I'll be speaking about fire recovery, invasive species, and erosion issues at the Santa Clara River Watershed Council meeting January 24th, 9-11 am at the United Water Conservation District, and February 24th at the Casitias Water District public meeting - more soon!
February 17th the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy's Plant Walk will include a talk by folks from the California Chaparral Institute - https://www.facebook.com/events/142471386462631/
Rocky fire is raging through bone dry chapparal shrublands
Reposted from the UCANR News Blog
Northern California's Rocky Fire is roaring through shrublands that have no previous recorded history of wildfires, reported Kirk Siegler on All Things Considered. It has already burned 65,000 acres and is 12 percent contained, according to CalFire's Incident Report.
The area has been protected from fire for decades, primed for the type of catastrophic blaze California officials have been predicting.
Siegler spoke to UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension wildland and forestry advisor Greg Giusti.
"We've got miles and miles of contiguous chaparral vegetation and literally there are no breaks in the vegetation," Giusti said. "It's extremely steep and, in many cases, it's a roadless area."
Four years of drought has left the vegetation bone dry.
'When these fires get to an intensity we've seen, because of the fuel loading, because of fire suppression for the last 50 or 60 years, it allows the plant communities to get so dense, so thick and so expansive that, once a fire starts, it's beyond the capabilities of human control," Guisti said.