Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration

The North Campus Open Space (NCOS) restoration project has created more than 40 acres of estuarine and palustrine wetlands that historically comprised the upper portion of Devereux Slough that was filled in the mid-1960s to create the Ocean Meadows golf course. The project is also restoring more than 60 acres of upland habitats that include native grassland, coastal sage scrub, riparian, oak chaparral woodland, vernal pools and patches of annual wildflowers in clay and sandy soils. This report summarizes the results from monitoring native and non-native plants, birds, small mammals, aquatic invertebrates, tree growth, and hydrological functions.

Born out of a vision shared by the local community, students, faculty, researchers and state and federal agencies, the North Campus Open Space (NCOS) restoration project is recreating more than 40 acres of estuarine and palustrine wetlands that historically comprised the upper portion of Devereux Slough that was filled in the mid-1960s to create the Ocean Meadows golf course. Led by the UC Santa Barbara Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER) in collaboration with other UCSB departments, faculty, student and local community groups, contractors and government agencies, the project is also restoring more than 60 acres of upland habitats that include native grassland, coastal sage scrub, riparian, oak chaparral woodland, vernal pools and patches of annual wildflowers in clay and sandy soils. In addition to wetland and upland habitat restoration, the goals of the NCOS project include flood reduction, support for threatened and endangered species, public access and the provision of educational opportunities. Ancillary benefits of the project include carbon sequestration, preservation of local genotypes, and protection of adjacent ecological values and infrastructure through a design that integrates sea level rise considerations.

Currently in its third year of implementation, the main planting phase of the project is approximately 90% complete, and the focus is now turning towards maintenance, continued monitoring, new research projects, and supplemental planting to add diversity, including special status species such as the Ventura marsh milk-vetch (Astragalus pycnostachys var. lanosissimus). This report describes the methods and results of monitoring for the first two years of the project, from vegetation and wildlife to wetland geomorphology, hydrology and water quality, carbon sequestration studies, community use and a detailed record of restoration efforts by type of worker, task and site location. This work documents the progress of the project and supports longer-term research and monitoring programs. Results from the second year of monitoring show substantial progress towards the project’s restoration goals, with many being met or exceeded.

Phenology is becoming more important to study with human impacts on the environment including urbanization and climate change. The UCSBlooms project is a year-long blooms tracking project that began March 11, 2019 and concluded on March 17, 2020. This project uses the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) citizen scientists and the citizen science program iNaturalist to track the phenology of six species of plants found on the UCSB campus. Citizen scientists are much more likely to participate in organized events rather than an open-ended project. Citizen scientists are also more likely to observe species in flower than species that are not in bloom. Non-native species have less variation in phenostages at a single date than native species. The environmental cues used to determine movement through a species’ phenology differs between families. There are many factors that affect the phenology of campus plants including urban heat islands, phylogeny, and native status. This report is the undergraduate senior thesis of the author in fulfillment for the UCSB Biological Sciences Senior Honors Program.

In 2018, the hardscape construction of NCOS (North Campus Open Space), a restored, closed estuary, wetland on the Northern border of COPR (Coal Oil Point Reserve), was completed; thus, approximately doubling its overall size and offering the rather unique opportunity of being able to compare the well-established COPR wetland with the newly constructed, adjoining, NCOS wetland. Basic water quality and aquatic invertebrate monitoring data collection of both sites were undertaken to help better understand the dynamics of how a newly constructed wetland develops into an established wetland and to establish a baseline for future monitoring. Aquatic invertebrate sampling protocols were evaluated indicating that sampling in algae gives more than an order-of-magnitude greater abundance and diversity than sampling in open water and that the Filtered Beaker method gives more precise species density information than the Sweep-Net method; when sampling at shallower depths where the Sweep-Net is not fully submerged. Additionally, there are significant issues with how benthic samples are traditionally collected and analyzed. Four taxa are the more significant contributors to the total taxa observed –Copepods, Ostracods, Cladocera, and Corixidae. Additionally, we found Oligochaete, Chironomids, Nematodes, and Ephydridae in significant abundance. The type and number of invertebrates collected are evaluated in terms of site, salinity, and location in the sampling column (planktonic or benthic).

During the 2019-20 hydrologic year several projects were initiated which were designed to evaluate questions resulting from the long-term Black Lake Ecological Area (BLEA) Nipomo lupine outplanting experiment. These include an assessment of soil conditions at various sites, an assessment of soil moisture at multiple sites and two additional experimental outplanting trials to evaluate the extent to which fog collection by cages could be more of a factor than herbivory-protection and to evaluate whether there are any benefits to lupine survival from growing ‘with’ versus ‘without’ other plants nearby. Results from those studies were compiled in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 reports after a second seeding of those experiments in 2020.

This report covers results from monitoring of the two experimental trials over the 2021-22 winter which was, again, very dry and reduced the number of seedlings which survived to produce seeds. This report also covers the 2021-22 augmentation effort which included 23 plots each seeded with 500 seeds established in the swales at BLEA (2014/15 trial swale and 2019 trial swale) and Kathleen Goddard Jones Overlook swale (KGJO). These plots included modest variation to further track the pros and cons of seed scarification and fencing/caging as well as parallel camera trap studies designed to document seed predation and plant herbivory.

This report describes the as-built geomorphology and hydrology of the North Campus Open Space (NCOS) restoration project at the completion of the grading phase of the project. Topics covered include: a comparison of the predicted and as-built grading elevations, as-built cross-sections and thalwegs of the two main channels, and a comparison of the hydrology of the project site before and after the completion of the grading phase. A selection of photos of the project site taken before and after the completion of grading are provided at the end of the report. Ongoing project work not covered in this report includes: trail and bridge construction, planting and site maintenance, and the planned construction of a visitor interpretative plaza and maintenance equipment shed.

In this study, the seedbank of the Nipomo-Guadalupe dune complex was analyzed to better understand the endangered Nipomo lupine's (Lupinus nipomensis, Fabaceae) reproduction and competitors. 

The Clethodim, grass-specific herbicide, experiment was conducted on 60 Nipomo lupine (Lupinus nipomensis) seedlings (10 replicates x 6 treatments).  The goal of the research was to evaluate the potential impact of the field application of Clethodim over growing seedlings of the endangered Nipomo lupine through direct spray or aerial (helicopter) application as part of the Guadalupe Dunes Management team’s efforts to eliminate Ehrharta calycina (perennial veldt grass) from the fragile dune habitat. Work is conducted under a CDFW Permit to Study the Effects of Clethodim Herbicide on Nipomo Mesa Lupine (Lupinus nipomensis) (permit No. 2081(a)-19-017-RP). The most effective time to apply the herbicide is early in the growing season of the grass (January) which coincides with the typical time for lupine germination. Spraying may also occur later in the winter or during the spring as perennial veldt grass continues its growth which coincides with the time when lupine may be flowering or fruiting.  The experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of the herbicide on both stages of potted lupine seedlings to determine if Clethodim and associated surfactants affects the seedlings under either stage of growth.  The goal is to more efficiently manage this invasive plant across the dune ecosystem by securing permit to allow for spraying within occupied Nipomo lupine habitat by both aerial methods (helicopter) and/or by ground crews.  Past restrictions on management of veldt grass adjacent to the Nipomo lupine population centers has resulted in a dense cover of the invasive grass around the remnant lupine population.  The results of this study indicate that there is no significant effect on vigor, lifespan, or seed production of either aerial (larger droplets) or direct spray application of the recommended herbicide and surfactant mixture on either newly leafing out seedlings or flowering individuals. In addition, seeds from the 6 treatment combinations were evaluated for their viability and we recorded the highest seed viability for all treatments (100%) relative to previous seed germination trials. 

The North Campus Open Space (NCOS) restoration project has created more than 40 acres of estuarine and palustrine wetlands that historically comprised the upper portion of Devereux Slough that was filled in the mid-1960s to create the Ocean Meadows golf course. The project also restored more than 60 acres of upland habitats that include native grassland, coastal sage scrub, riparian, oak chaparral woodland, vernal pools and patches of annual wildflowers in clay and sandy soils. This report summarizes the results from monitoring native and non-native plants, birds, small mammals, aquatic invertebrates, tree growth, and hydrological functions.