Journal Entry Week 8

March 13, 2013
Week 8

Work Hrs: 6 Total Hrs: 58

Week 8

        This was my last week interning at the Younger Lagoon Reserve and although it was in the middle of the mayhem of finals, I enjoyed every last second. Before heading in for official duty, I took a morning stroll around the lower terrace and bluff areas. The YLR is such a beautiful place to work and marvel at. The morning consisted of exotic plant species removal near the upper terrace in the wetlands 6 which was planted about a year ago. The native species which were planted are well established an on their way to becoming a native grassland. It is very important to stay on top of controlling the exotics because they can easily out compete and shade out the native grasses.

       

        In order to leave a bit early and get my study on, I worked through lunch. We haven't received very much rainfall in the last couple of months.To ensure solid root establishment of our newly transplanted lower terrace, we are supplementing the lack of natural rain fall by manually watering each and every plant. It could easily be over 6000 plant individuals! I watered for about 3 hours, which at first was rather daunting and monotonous, but as I got into a rhythm the work began to flow.  I may have individually watered 2000 plants that day, a fraction of what is on the lower terrace. Initial root establishment is vital to the plants survival in the next coming seasons which are more likely to be much hotter and void of much less water.

       I have had the best experience working as an intern for the Younger Lagoon Reserve and can only hope to come back this summer and participate in a 5-unit internship. I would be continuing in the spring, but I was inspired to sign up for the Natural History Field Quarter and was accepted. I will be taking my newly acquired skills and knowledge and apply them to a whole new experience.

WORD COUNT: 325

Hand pulling Oxalis and other exotic plant species in the upper wetlands 6.

My watering view for three hours.

The lagoon in the morning.

A view newly planted lower terrace and of the ocean.

One last shot of the sandbar which created the Younger Lagoon.

Journal Entry Week 7

March 6, 2013
Week 7

Work Hrs: 6 Total Hrs: 52

Week 7

        This week was pretty mellow. Most of the day was spent planting a mulched and fenced off area in the middle terrace area. The area we were planting was going to become filled with mostly California coastal prairie scrub. The fenced area to be worked was surrounded amongst some rather large established diverse coastal prairie scrub. The species that were planted were: coffeeberry or Rhamnus californica, yarrow or Achillea millifolium, California sagebrush or Artemesia californica, silver leaf lupine or Lupinus albifrons, sticky monkey flower or mimulus aronticus, and lizard's tail or Eriophyllum staechadiofolium.

        Later that afternoon I spent a solid amount of time conducting my usual water level well monitoring data collection around the YLR. There are many wells drilled all along the YLR and we are currently collecting data from 9 varied dispersed sites. This data is being collected to observe the natural rise and fall of the ground water in the water table underneath the reserve terraces. Data is also being collected to observe where the ground water is most prevalent in conjunction with the location of wetlands on the reserve. Another reason for ground water monitoring at the YLR is to find locations for possible wetland creation potential or current site wetness where restoration and site delineation can occur. Walking around to the various well sites and collecting water depth data is relaxing, but also quite important to the restoration work being done at the YLR. After all, the restoration work being completed is because of the important bio diverse federally protected wetland habitats. I would love to come back in two or three years and see the YLR native habitats flourishing including the precious wetlands.

WORD COUNT: 276



A local red tailed hawk.

 Capitola sunrise bike ride on the way to the lagoon.

I caught this awesome bobcat sneaking in the grass by the upper terrace.



Journal Entry Week 6

February 27, 2013
Week 6

Work Hrs: 12 Total Hrs: 46

Week 6

      This week Ace was back to help out with various tasks around YLR. The Wednesday morning crew and I joined Ace on the banks of the lagoon just past the new overlook to rid an area of invasive hemlock or Conium maculatum. Invasive species or weed or non-native plant control is a very important aspect of restoration ecology and land management. It is a constant battle which eventually can be won be utilizing various techniques. Previously I had talked about tarping to control the Hemlock. This week, we were literally pulling each and every individual hemlock plant by its roots to clear a large area. Once most of the invasive species is removed from the area, it will be mulched and planted with local shrubs which hopefully will in the area and shade out any future Hemlock seedlings. This will hopefully take care of the Hemlock in that area. Other invasive species that are popping up around the YLR are Medicago polymorpha or bur clover and Oxalis pes-caprae or sourgrass and Raphanus sativus or wild radish. There hasn't been that much rainfall, so the invasives haven't really gotten enough moisture to germinate and try to mature and take over the YLR. This is going to make it a little bit easier for the spring interns who are going to have to do a lot of weed management. Weed management and planting to restore native biodiversity should over time rid of or severely suppress non-natives or invasives species with out further interjection by humans.

      Ace also hosted a work day in which volunteers and students from the Karen Holl's ecology restoration class donated their time and labor at the YLR for an afternoon. With the help of everyone, a lot of work was completed on the main terrace including mulching large areas and the planting of at least 1400 plants.

WORD COUNT: 308

The "Stacks" at the Mouth of the Lagoon.

Another View of the Stacks.

Looking Out at the Ocean Through Some Rushes Also Known as Juncus patens.

YLR Interns and Volunteers.

Journal Entry Week 5

February 20, 2013
Week 5

Work Hrs: 6 Total Hrs: 34

Week 5

      This week marked the half way point of my time with the YLR. and it's been a great experience so far. I've participated on gratifying projects and have absorbed a ton of information. Wednesday also happened to be my birthday, which working outside in the fresh air and sun was not a bad way to spend it. We worked on the lower terrace closer to the mobile home park to fill in some larger mulched areas with native grasses. There were three species to be planted in their own respected marked off polygones: Stipa pulchra or Purple needle grass, Hordeum brachyantherum or Meadow barley, and Elymus glaucus or Blue wild rye. After a while I was actually planting by myself, so I put on some solid blues, wrapped my shirt over my face so as not to burn and cranked out some planting. In the end I think I planted about 200 individual species(which is a lot) and as a group this week in total about 400 individual grass species. The total count for species planted this quarter mainly by YLR interns is a whopping 9500 and counting!

      When working solo, I really like to take the time to breath, and ensconce myself into my surroundings taking notice of the smallest minute details, sounds, or smells. Slowing down to critically think and observe one's surrounding environment is just as important as working hard and diligently. Working next to some larger green waxy leafed Coyote brush or Bacharis pilularis, I noticed a couple of hares scurrying back and forth between bushes while simultaneously listening to the sweet sound of  a nearby bird with red shoulders. The abundance of wildlife I encounter at the YLR always amazes me.

WORD COUNT: 284

The main terrace.

Yours truly looking like a ninja and also pictured is my work area.

Elymus glaucus.

Stipa pulchra.

Enjoying a short break to take in my surroundings.

Journal Entry Week 4

February 13, 2013
Week 4

Work Hrs: 7 Total Hrs: 28

Week 4

        Today was interesting, fun, long, and most of all very productive. It was filled with multiple tasks and projects. The morning began working with the Wednesday crew along side the Younger Lagoon ridding an area of invasive hemlock or Conium maculatum. The hemlock is growing in a rather large patch trail side under a small grove of California buckeye trees or Aesculus californica. Also growing amidst the hemlock was a native rose species Rosa californica. To get the hemlock under control, we used a technique called tarping or soil solarization. This technique works in eliminating invasive exotics or 'weeds' by exposing them to the least optimum growing conditions. As the name soil solariztion infers, by covering the affected area with a strongly woven black tarp, it harnesses natural solar radiation to elevate temperatures. The other main objective of a black tarp is to block out precious sunlight used by weed seedlings to convert to photosynthesis and thus grow into adults. The hope is to eradicate all weeds currently growing as well as wipe out future progeny's from eradicating the entire seed bank.

I spent the afternoon taking full advantage working solo. It really gives me a chance to observe my natural surroundings. I toured the grounds taking my weekly well readings and checking out white-tailed-hawks, red-tailed hawks and herons. Trying to be efficient, I also packed my backpack full of tools to replace broken wooden stakes holding up chicken-wire fencing surrounding smaller research plots located in the main field area. My last task consisted of mending a hole in the upper fence provided to keep the public out of the lagoon areas. I  turned a weak spot in the armour into an impenetrable fortress.(Sorry surfer dudes.)

Word Count: 286

The newly built overlook. To be utilized as a place of study and admiration.

Conium maculatum underneath the Aesculus californicas. 

Conium maculatum.

Tarping.

Well probe and fence mending tools.

The fence.

 Younger Lagoon.

Journal Entry Week 3

February 6, 2013
Week 3

Work Hrs: 6 Total Hrs: 21

Week 3

      I worked this week with Mickie Tang, an Evolution and Ecology undergrad at UCSC. She is currently working on her senior thesis project along with another student TJ Adams. They've utilized the lagoons coastal prairie habitat for their research on the (Adams 2012) effectiveness of applied nucleation and dense planting to restore California Coastal grasslands. The research is based on the ideas of ecological succession and assisting nature in regenerating a native bio diverse habitat. The techniques tested were 'full planting and planting in patches or islands and their effectiveness at re-vegetating degraded grasslands with and without mulch.' Vegetation was completely removed and three native grass species were strategically planted in various research plots containing the two techniques being tested and control group. They then observed over time which area produced the highest population size of native grasses under varied conditions.

      My job with Mickie consisted of combing over each test area looking for and counting each of the native plant species being tested. It was not an easy task. We were on our hands and knees all morning searching for the tiniest of seedlings gathering a generalized consensus of the population size of each species in the test area. We were looking for and mainly found a lot of Clarkia davyi and Achillea millefolium. We were collecting data  using categories for population size range in the form of 0-10, 10-100, and 100-1000 species. As the morning progressed and the heat settled in nicely, a great conversation developed as Mickie described the her research and we got to know each other. we slipped into a nice rhythm collecting data and it become a joy to spot the native species and record their numbers. (Sounds silly I'm sure, but when you love what your doing...).

Word Count: 293

Happy Mickie Tang.

Mickie setting up to collect data.

        

Adams, Tianjiao. 2012. Effectiveness of Applied Nucleation and Dense Planting to Restore California Coastal Grasslands. UCSC. (Abstract)

Journal Entry week 2

January  30, 2013
Week 2

Work Hrs: 9 Total Hrs: 15

Week 2

      The day started out just as we Californians love, nice and sunny. The morning was spent working with the Wednesday crew Corrine and David. We were planting a few different native species, mainly  grasses on the beautiful YLR bluffs. Re-incorporating the various endemic native perennial grasses to the bluffs will restore a natural habitat for many insect, bird, and small mammal species. The grasses will develop strong root systems preventing soil erosion and once established combat exotics from taking over. Coastal prairies in California support the highest plant diversity of any grassland in the United States.

      This week I also volunteered with a non-profit organization called Oikonos. Oikonos is a non-profit organization that studies and protects imperiled ecosystems. The Santa Cruz chapter run by Bill Henry is working to restore West Cliff's Native Plant and Seabird Habitats. They are striving to remove all of the exotic ice plant currently residing along the whole of West Cliff and reinstating native plant populations. The ice plant was introduced  early on to stabilize railway cuttings and road banks, but it has been allowed to take over and squash all but a few of the native populations. Ice plant has a shallow root system and is very heavy, so much to common belief, ice plant does not hold soils in place as well as natives contributing to soil erosion. It also harbors an invasive black rat species  prey on seabird eggs and chicks severely depleting populations. It will be an ongoing process for the next.

      Also this week, we had a visit from the American Conservation Experience, a section of Americorps. They came out to help with trail management and maintain our fences bordering the bigger research plots and restoration areas in the main field area.

Word Count: 292

Corrine and Dave working to fill in a gully cliff side with native grasses.

  

Rush or Juncus patens I believe.

Trying to fill this gully and path with native grasses.

 

Free Lunch!

West Cliff.

Notice the patch where Ice Plant was removed next to the fence.