Planting the NCOS Mesa Slopes with a Diverse Palette
After several months of full-time weed control, CCBER Restoration staff and students are excited to be back to planting! Read more about the restoration design for the slopes of the NCOS Mesa, where up to 40 different species are being planted in 9 plant community "zones".
Exclosures Deployed to Help Snowy Plovers in Tough Breeding Season
The threatened Western Snowy Plover faces many challenges when attempting to successfully reproduce. This breeding season, crow predation on plover eggs has been so intense on COPR and NCOS that something creative needed to be done or the plovers would not be able to reproduce successfully. Read more.
New UCSB Graduates Reflect on Their NCOS Experiences
With the end of the school year upon us, we have a number of graduating students who have worked on the NCOS project for some time, including before the project broke ground. We asked some of these students to reflect on their experience at NCOS and how it has influenced their lives. Read more here.
Spring Quarter Seminar Series on Grassland Restoration
CCBER's Conservation and Restoration Ecology Seminar Series for the 2019 Spring quarter will focus on Restoring California's Native Perennial Grasslands. See the schedule of topics and speakers here.
Spring Planting and Weeding Plans at NCOS
Spring is on our doorstep, and with the NCOS restoration project well into its second year, we're taking stock of the planting progress and plans for the coming months. Read more about how we're working to control invasive weeds in order to give native plants an opportunity to establish.
Becoming Watershed Wise for a Healthy Wetland
The health of a wetland like Devereux Slough is inextricably linked to the health of the watershed that drains into it, and this can be impacted by inputs such as trash, excess nutrients, and sediment that ride into the wetland on stormwater runoff. Read on about how CCBER and others are working to understand and reduce these impacts.
First Year Milestones & What's Next for NCOS
The NCOS restoration project has passed the first year milestone, and the Marsh trail is now open to the community. What's next in the story of NCOS? Here we share with you a brief summary of the project's achievements over the past year, and the goals and opportunities moving forward.
Keeping Tabs on NCOS Birdlife
At NCOS, CCBER has been collaborating with local ornithologists to conduct systematic monthly surveys of birds on the project site. This month marks one year since the NCOS bird surveys began, and we've tallied up the numbers to see what the trends are so far. Read more here.
What are you curious about at NCOS?
California State Parks has recently awarded a grant to CCBER for the construction of a Visitor Plaza at NCOS, along with an interpretive garden, viewpoint overlooks with benches, and a variety of interpretive signs. We would like to invite you to review some of our draft interpretive signs, and more!
The Value of NCOS for Student Researchers
There are currently 6 ongoing, student-driven research and monitoring projects on NCOS, investigating topics ranging from aquatic invertebrates and water quality, to the effects of soil amendments on soil quality and plant growth, and wildlife use of habitat features. Read on about these projects and the experiences of research interns.
