Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration

Understanding trophic interactions helps reveal how energy and nutrients move through ecosystems and provides insight into the ecological effects of habitat restoration. This study examined potential feeding relationships between birds and aquatic prey at North Campus Open Space (NCOS), a restored wetland. I constructed two trophic networks representing bird interactions with aquatic prey: one for aquatic invertebrates and one for aquatic vertebrates. I based these networks on bird and prey species recorded in monitoring datasets at NCOS and compiled trophic links through a literature review of documented avian diets. Highly connected prey groups included Chironomidae (midges) and small fish, suggesting that these two prey groups may function as key shared resources for birds at NCOS. Although these networks represent potential rather than directly observed interactions, they provide insight into the structure of avian-aquatic food webs and support future restoration efforts at NCOS.

This project was completed through the Environmental Studies Internship Program in Winter quarter 2026.

This report summarizes the third year of restoration activities and outcomes following reintroduction of the endangered plant Chloropyron maritimum ssp. maritimum at North Campus Open Space, Goleta, California, USA.

Ventura marsh milk-vetch (Astragalus pycnostachyus var. lanosissimus) is a California state and federally endangered species in the legume family (Fabaceae) which historically grew in alluvial coastal systems in Los Angeles and Ventura counties (USFWS, 2020). The species was declared extinct in the 1960s after several decades without record in surveys, but was rediscovered in 1997 in Oxnard at a planned development site; development was halted and the site was preserved in the following decades. Since then, the species has been reintroduced at McGrath State Beach in 2004 and Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve in 2002.

The establishment of Ventura marsh milk-vetch at North Campus Open Space and Coal Oil Point Reserve (COPR) in Santa Barbara County represent novel introductions outside of the historic range. These two locations comprise the upper and lower arms of the Devereux Slough, and intermittently tidal estuarine system. Ventura marsh milk-vetch prefers shallow or perched water tables in a dynamic system with somewhat regular disturbances to reduce competitive pressure. There was an earlier introduction to COPR in 1999 that was extirpated in 2019. The Cheadle Center reintroduced the species to COPR in 2022 in experimental seeding plots throughout the reserve, as well as establishing two experimental plots at the UCSB Campus Lagoon. Since these introductions, the Ventura marsh milk-vetch has flourished at North Campus Open Space in the original “main population” along the sandy edge of the slough and in several smaller occurrences throughout the open space. At Coal Oil Point Reserve, two of the nine seeding plots have established small, but consistent occurrences of milk-vetch over the last three years. The Campus Lagoon proved unsuitable habitat for the milk-vetch, with a lower water table than expected and significantly higher competitive pressure.

The populations at North Campus Open Space and Coal Oil Point Reserve both require active management and monitoring for continued survival of the species. Competition from both native and invasive species has been compounded by Nitrogen fixation by the milk-vetch and invasive Melilotus sp. These sites are vital to the conservation of a critically endangered species with only a handful of occurrences in the world. We hope the data and observations collected in this report will help inform future conservation efforts throughout the species range.

This report provides an update to the delineation of potential wetlands that meet federal and state standards on the Cojo Terrace of the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve in Santa Barbara County, California. This section of the preserve, hereafter referred to as the Study Area, consists of approximately 1,046 acres of coastal scrub, grasslands, dunes, and wetlands. A comprehensive wetland delineation study was previously conducted in 2012 by Althouse and Meade, Inc. of the entire 24,000 acres of the preserve. In the subsequent decade, the local climate underwent periods of drought and changes in management and land use. The Study Area covers the historic Cojo Ranch, which was managed as cattle rangeland since the 1800s. In 2017, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) acquired the Study Area as well as the adjacent Jalama Ranch and founded the Dangermond Preserve with the mission to preserve and steward the undeveloped land and protect and restore its biodiversity and wildlife connectivity. In 2022, a pilot study on the removal of invasive highway iceplant (Carpobrotus edulis) began in the northern, coastal section of the Cojo Terrace (Zone C and D, Figure 2). To further inform restoration efforts in the dunes and scrub, TNC contracted the Cheadle Center at UC Santa Barbara to update the 2012 wetland delineation and provide recommendations for wetland restoration.

This report, however cursory, provides the first official assessment of burrowing owls onthe Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve, located in Santa Barbara County, California,including prevalence, usage of burrows, habitat assessment, potential for improvements,and threats. The Dangermond Preserve consists of 24,000 acres of diverse habitatsincluding Bishop pine, oak woodland, chaparral, coastal sage scrub, riparian, wetmeadow, and more, from the Santa Ynez mountains to the Pacific Ocean and includes the dynamic place where the coast of California stops trending east west and begins trendingnorth. This report focuses specifically on the Cojo Terrace, 1,046 acres of low elevation,almost entirely flat land encompassing the areas around Cojo Bay, Government Point, andPoint Conception at approximately 10-40 m above sea level.

Around the world, fragile, coastal aquatic ecosystems are threatened by a range of factors, including pollution and eutrophication, which hinder their ability to provide ecosystem services such as water filtration, habitat, and coastal resilience to climate change. Elevated nutrient levels, the presence of pollutants, such as chemicals and heavy metals, and low levels of dissolved oxygen all negatively affect these ecosystems. Anthropogenic actions are at the root of the majority of these issues, resulting in severe damage, but also the knowledge that, with changes, this damage can be remediated and eventually entirely avoided. Damage to aquatic systems threatens both local and migratory organisms while simultaneously causing economic and societal damage as productivity levels fall and resilience to climate change is weakened. The importance of coastal lagoons in species conservation and resilience to climate change cannot be overstated, making the conservation and management of these ecosystems paramount.

Chloropyron maritimum ssp. maritimum is an annual halophytic plant that grows incoastal wetlands and salt marshes from California’s south coast to northern Baja California. While it does possess chlorophyll and undergoes a modicum of photosynthesis, it is hemiparasitic, deploying haustoria to steal most of its required nutrients from the root systems of its host plants. It is a decumbent herb with many distal purple branches and leaves which excrete salt crystals. It is listed as endangered both by the USEPA and California, as well as given threatened (“amenazada”) status in Mexico, largely due to the historical destruction and fragmentation of coastal salt marsh habitat. The subspecies C. maritimum ssp. palustre occurs from Morro Bay north to Humboldt county, making NCOS the new northwestern limit of Chloropyron maritimum ssp. maritimum.

In the spring of 2023, the Cheadle Centerobtained 5,000 seeds from Carpinteria salt marsh via Tidal Influence, LLC with permits from the USFWS. These were spread across UCSB's North Campus Open Space on March 27 in 96 half meter-square subplots which were paired to test preferred host plant, soil type, elevation, and performance with or without supplemental watering. In the first year, 55 individuals reached adulthood. Germination only occurred in sandy soil with saltgrass (Distichlis spicata) as the hostplant, and watering did not have a significant effect on germination, height, or plant productivity. The results from the Year 1 experimental trials informed the selection of larger seeding zones in early 2024. Twozones of medium-density saltgrass were chosen and sown with approximately 25,000-30,000 seeds each, provided once again by Tidal Influence LLC, sourcedfrom the Carpinteria Salt Marsh. In order to test the best time for sowing seed, the first zone was seeded in February and the second in March. In addition to monitoring the new seeding zones, we continued to monitor the Year 1 experimental plots. The Year 2 abundance of salt marsh bird's beak on site was approximately 1,914, with an estimated seed production of 87,122. 

UC Santa Barbara’s Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (Cheadle Center) began working with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to plan for the introduction of the federally-endangered Ventura marsh milk-vetch (Astragalus pycnostachyus var. lanosissimus) at UCSB’s North Campus Open Space (NCOS) in 2018. The first individuals were planted in a sandy site with high sub-surface soil moisture on the upper edge of the highwater mark of the newly restored upper arm of Devereux Slough in November 2019. These individuals were grown from seed collected from the original rediscovered population in Oxnard courtesy of Mary Carroll, the senior ecologist managing the site. In an effort to protect plants from inundation during times when the slough is fully ponded and to mimic conditions that may be related to success at planted locations in Ventura, five east-west trending berms approximately 1.5 meters wide, 0.5 meters tall, and 10 meters long were constructed with a small tractor. These were also designed to test the effect of subtle differences between north and south facing slopes as was observed in Ventura. The orientation of the berms later appeared to be unimportant at this site. At the same time, 6 milk-vetch were outplanted in the EEM Swale, a willow woodland with sandy soils near an ephemeral stream. In November 2019, 237 ten-month-old plants, grown at the Cheadle Center nursery, were planted on the site – 231 in the primary site “sandy zone” and six in the EEM Swale. Subsequently, more adults were planted on adjacent sandy mounds in the sandy zone in September 2020 (55) and October 2020 (46) and seeds were broadcast sown at several other sites at NCOS. In late 2022, 9 experimental seeding sites were established at Coal Oil Point Reserve adjacent to NCOS, as well as 2 seeding sites at the UCSB Campus Lagoon. This report summarizes the 2024 monitoring results and management efforts at all three project sites on UCSB property.

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. 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 from 2017 when there was barren, excavated land until 2024 when the restoration project is complete.

UC Santa Barbara’s Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration(Cheadle Center) began working with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to plan for theintroduction of the federally-endangered Ventura marsh milk-vetch (Astragalus pycnostachyus var. lanosissimus) at UCSB’s North Campus Open Space (NCOS) in 2018. The first individuals were planted in a sandy site with high sub-surface soil moisture on the upper edge of the highwater mark of the newly restored upper arm of Devereux Slough in November 2019. These individuals were grown from seed collected from the original population in Oxnard and obtainedfrom Mary Carroll. In an effort to elevate plants during episodes when the slough is fully ponded and to mimic conditions we believed may be related to success at planted locations in Ventura five east-west trending berms approximately 1.5 meters wide, 0.5 meters tall, and 10 meters long were constructed with a small tractor. These were to test the effect of subtle differences between north and south facing slopes as was observed in Ventura. At the same time, 6 vetch were outplanted in the “EEM” Swale, a willow woodland with sandy soils near an ephemeral stream. In November 2019, 231 (Sandy zone) and 6 other individuals, grown at the Cheadle Center nursery and about 10 months old, were planted, with subsequent planting taking placeon adjacent sandy mounds in September 2020 (55) and October 2020 (46) (Figure 1). Theseare detailed in previous reports.

In December 2020, an estimated five cups of unprocessed seed were collected from themain population of previously planted individuals and dispersed experimentally across different zones of NCOS that were seen as potentially suitable habitat for the expansion of this initial population (Figure 1). The “sandy zone” is a northeast-facing slope and adjacent sandy plain just southeast of the main planted population and consists of recently exposed soils with a similar consistency and make up of fine beach sand. The “Tule Seep” is a perennially wet seepsurrounded by willow (Salix lasiolepis) and tule (Shoenoplectus californicus) and underlain byclay and clay loam soils. Whittier Pond is a small freshwater pond that holds water throughout the entire year. The “Bioswale” site is a string of low-lying swales or subtle vernal pools descending in elevation northwest from the mesa into the saltmarsh transition with dense clay soils. Finally, several square meter plots were seeded in South Parcel on sandy soils, in mixed riparian woodland and coastal sage habitats. Each of these five zones received one cup of collected seed and fruit material. Germinating seedlings were observed and monitored on a monthly basis during the growing season over the past 3 years.