Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration

The Cheadle Center at UCSB manages the North Campus Open Space (NCOS), which is a project that has restored 136 acres of upland and wetland habitats that existed before the area was converted into the Ocean Meadows Golf Course in the 1960s. The NCOS restoration project began in 2017 with a fine-scale grading of the site in order to recreate the salt marsh and use the excavated soil to rebuild the upland habitats to the southwest, which are now called the NCOS Mesa. In addition to re-establishing native biodiversity, a key goal of the restoration is to utilize the site as an educational, scientific, and recreational resource. This archived version of the August 2020 newsletter includes updates on new trail overlook benches and signs, new plantings along the Visitor Plaza and Discovery Trail, and the return of student workers to the project. The feature story focuses on the removal of invasive plants such as pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana) and mustard (Brassica nigra) from the southwestern corner of the site. Community photos include Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola), Western Pygmy Blue (Brephidium exilis), Bobcat (Lynx rufus), Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna), and Wilson’s Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor).