Every reserve in the UC Natural Reserve System comes with its own small universe of biological information. When scientists and other visitors collect reserve plants and animals to study, they also record the date, the exact location where it was found, and more information. The specimen may then get deposited in a museum, while its...
UC Natural Reserve System lands are home to dozens of vulnerable animal and plant species. These range from some of the state's rarest amphibians to endemic plants to icons of the West such as bighorn sheep. Studies conducted at the 39 reserves of the NRS informs how these species are managed, which helps preserve the...
OAKLAND, California—The University of California Natural Reserve System has received a $2.179 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to monitor the pulse of water through state ecosystems. The California Heartbeat Initiative-Freshwater (CHI-Freshwater) will link plant responses to environmental conditions such as heat waves, rainstorms, and drought on a landscape scale. The results...
Christopher Tracy, new director of Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center, weighs a desert plated lizard ( Gerrhosaurus skoogi ) along the Skeleton Coast of Namibia. Image courtesy Christopher Tracy. For the first time in 35 years, a new director is at the helm of the NRS’s Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center in the...
