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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Compounding Fire Disturbance History Encourages Coast Redwood (Sequoia Sempervirens) Regeneration And Community Dominance, Matthew R. Brousil
Compounding Fire Disturbance History Encourages Coast Redwood (Sequoia Sempervirens) Regeneration And Community Dominance, Matthew R. Brousil
Master's Theses
Disturbance is fundamental to forest ecosystem function and overall health, but climate change is likely to increase both disturbance frequency and intensity in the future. Forests subject to increasingly frequent and intense disturbances are more likely to experience compounding disturbance effects. Compounding disturbances may exert unpredicted, non-additive stresses on ecosystems, leading to novel conditions that may exceed the capacity for local species to survive and regenerate. I further hypothesize that compounding disturbances could create conditions misaligned with species’ adaptations by altering physical and chemical growing conditions in forest soils, affecting forest composition, structure, and, subsequently, function for many years following …
Testing Predictions Used To Build An Agrivoltaics Installation On A Small-Scale Educational Model, Katie Kinney, Rebecca Minor, Greg Barron-Gafford
Testing Predictions Used To Build An Agrivoltaics Installation On A Small-Scale Educational Model, Katie Kinney, Rebecca Minor, Greg Barron-Gafford
STAR Program Research Presentations
Models are valuable tools for explaining and testing systems. Small-scale models can be especially useful for educational purposes. For models to be useful, they have to accurately depict the larger system that they are describing. A novel man-made system, known as an agrivoltaic structure, is being constructed at Biosphere 2 near Oracle, Arizona. The word agrivoltaic is a combination of agriculture and photovoltaics, or solar farming. My research involved creating a small-scale version of this system for educational purposes. The model of this system tested two predictions: that plants will grow better in the shade of a panel and that …
Irrigation Efficiency Of Santa Rosa Island Cloud Forest Restoration Project, Rebecca Bernard, Kathryn Mceachern, Ken Niessen
Irrigation Efficiency Of Santa Rosa Island Cloud Forest Restoration Project, Rebecca Bernard, Kathryn Mceachern, Ken Niessen
STAR Program Research Presentations
Beginning in the 1800s, sheep and cattle ranching have caused significant erosion and devegetation of Santa Rosa Island, Channel Islands National Park. In an effort to contain what little soil is left and rebuild the native chaparral, the Cloud Forest Restoration Project is testing erosion control structures such as wattles, leaf litter fences and silt dams. This summer a drip irrigation system was installed along with fog capturing fences to supply water to native plants transplanted near the erosion control structures. As the project has grown, more irrigation has been added to increase the area available for transplanting. This irrigation …
Lower Scotts Creek Floodplain And Habitat Enhancement Project, Benjmain O. Cook
Lower Scotts Creek Floodplain And Habitat Enhancement Project, Benjmain O. Cook
Master's Theses
Scotts Creek, located in northern Santa Cruz County, maintains the southernmost persistent population of Central California Coast (CCC) Coho Salmon (endangered) in addition to CCC steelhead (threatened). Fisheries biologists believe overwinter mortality due to lack of refuge habitat is the primary factor limiting salmonid production. Instream rearing habitat may also be limiting, especially during drought years. The legacy effects of historic land use practices, including dredging, wood removal, and the construction of levees, continued to limit refuge and rearing opportunities. A restoration project was implemented to improve refuge and rearing opportunities for salmonids along lower Scotts Creek by removing portions …