Santa Cruz Island Reserve

25 Apr, 02 AM - 27 Apr, 09 AM

Project Description Santa Cruz Island supports many unique habitat types. Over the years, these habitats have been severely degraded as a result of overgrazing, introduction of exotics, and early colonization. As the flora on Santa Cruz begins to recover, it is important to realize the uniqueness of island species. There have been many accounts of morphological differences found among and within species occurring on the islands and the mainland. It has been documented that leaf size on many Santa Cruz Island species are larger than leaf size occurring in mainland populations. The aim of this study will be to compare leaf sizes between the populations, and determine whether the differences are results of environmental factors or years of genetic isolation. To accomplish this goal it is first necessary to identify populations of island and mainland species whose leaves differ significantly in size. Seeds from differing populations will be collected and grown in a common-garden experiment. This greenhouse experiment will provide invaluable data suggesting whether the leaf size variation is due to the environment, genetics, or both. Mainland and island plants grown in the greenhouse exhibiting phenotypic differences in leaf size will be evaluated for possible differences in genome size. Climatic and other field data from both the island and mainland will be collected and used to evaluate environmental effects on plant populations in which there was no leaf size variation detected. Overall, this study will attempt to determine the factors responsible for leaf size differences between mainland and island species. The information gained from this study may be used as a management tool to properly identify conservation priorities. Hopefully, this project will also help elucidate the relatedness of plant populations on Santa Cruz Island with those occurring on the mainland. Research on Island 1. Leaves from perennial chaparral species will be measured. These leaves will be collected, dried and weighed so that specific leaf area can be determined. 2. Seeds will be collected from plants showing leaf size variation. We will collect enough seeds for a common garden for 50 to 100 individuals. These seeds will be collected from many different individuals across many different species. The seeds harvested will be taken back to Cal Poly and propagated in the Cal Poly greenhouse facility.

Visit #1204 @Santa Cruz Island Reserve

Approved

Under Project # 1013 | Research

California State University San Luis Obispo - Biology

faculty - University of California, Santa Barbara

Reservation Members(s)

Bruce Mahall Apr 25 - 27, 2003 (3 days)
Bruce Mahall Apr 25 - 27, 2003 (3 days)
Bruce Mahall Apr 25 - 27, 2003 (3 days)

Reserve Resources(s) | Create Invoice

Dorm 3 Apr 25 - 27, 2003
Jeep 3 Apr 25 - 27, 2003