Angelo Coast Range Reserve

01 Apr, 04 AM - 30 Jun, 11 AM

Leading climate models agree that northern California will experience dramatic increases in rainfall in the next fifty years, but disagree as to whether those increases will intensify the current winter rainy season or extend it into the spring and summer. This research explores the potential fate of northern California?s grassland communities under alternate scenarios of climate change, providing mechanistic insight into food web assimilation of sustained shifts in environmental conditions. The study employs a well replicated, large scale manipulation of precipitation in a natural field setting. The design allows simultaneous testing of multiple independent hypotheses. We are gleaning mechanistic understanding of population-, community-, and ecosystem-level responses to a major aspect of climate change, and learning that complex interannual feedbacks can quickly cause communities to diverge from expected trajectories, with alarming implications for community structure and native biodiversity. This research has been presented in field lectures for twelve classes from five universities, three local elementary and high schools, and a scientific panel visiting the research site.

Visit #5074 @Angelo Coast Range Reserve

Approved

Under Project # 1959 | Research

University of California Berkeley - Integrative Biology

other - University of California, Berkeley

Reservation Members(s)

Blake Suttle Apr 1 - Jun 30, 2004 (91 days)

Reserve Resources(s) | Create Invoice

Wilderness Lodge 1 Apr 1 - Jun 30, 2004