Channel Islands National Park Research Articles

Multi-Scale Sensor Fusion With an Online Application: Integrating GOES, MODIS, and Webcam Imagery for Environmental Monitoring

Webcam and satellite imagery are integral sensor web components, but there are few websites that directly synthesize these products. Additionally, websites as a means for reviewing multiple images in an organized way and for analyzing time-series imagery have not been fully explored. This paper describes how web applications can facilitate review of image archives for multi-scale sensor data fusion, with a test case of an automatic panning camera at the highest peak on Santa Cruz Island (in Channel Islands National Park off the Santa Barbara, CA coast) and MODIS and GOES-11 satellite imagery. We developed the application PanOpt (http://zulu.geog.ucsb.edu/panopt/index.html) for filtering this image database and outputting selected images as a static matrix or as an animation. On-demand product generation includes time-series charts and scatter plots of image metrics for regions of interest, with data markers linked to views of corresponding satellite and camera imagery via event-based web scripting. This is useful not only for exploratory analysis but is well suited for pedagogical applications and imparting a greater synoptic understanding of environmental phenomena. Demonstration of this website's utility includes multi-modal characterization of clouds as well as ground- and satellite-based plant phenology time-series. With this tool, the quantitative and qualitative aspects of image exploration are synergistic, making it easier to discern underlying trends and anomalies and to identify directions for further analysis.

The Lichen Flora of East Anacapa Island, Channel Islands National Park, Ventura County, California

Abstract. Forty-three lichens in twenty-six genera are recorded for East Anacapa as well as four lichenicolous fungi in three genera and one allied fungus.

Background ozone levels of air entering the west coast of the US and assessment of longer-term changes

An analysis of surface ozone measurements at a west coast site in northern California (Trinidad Head) demonstrates that this location is well situated to sample air entering the west coast of the US from the Pacific Ocean. During the seasonal maximum in the spring, this location regularly observes hourly average ozone mixing ratios ⩾50 ppbv in air that is uninfluenced by the North American continent. Mean daytime values in the spring exceed 40 ppbv. A location in southern California (Channel Islands National Park) demonstrates many of the characteristics during the spring as Trinidad Head in terms of air flow patterns and ozone amounts suggesting that background levels of ozone entering southern California from the Pacific Ocean are similar to those in northern California. Two inland locations (Yreka and Lassen Volcanic National Park) in northern California with surface ozone data records of 20 years or more are more difficult to interpret because of possible influences of local or regional changes. They show differing results for the long-term trend during the spring. The 10-year ozone vertical profile measurements obtained with weekly ozonesondes at Trinidad Head show no significant longer-term change in tropospheric ozone.

The influence of summertime fog and overcast clouds on the growth of a coastal Californian pine: a tree-ring study

The coast of California is home to numerous rare, endemic conifers and other plants that are limited in distribution by drought sensitivity and the summer-dry climate that prevails across most of the state. Ecologists have long assumed that some coastal plant populations survived the early Pleistocene transition to a warmer and drier environment because they benefit from frequent fog and stratus clouds that provide water and shade during the rainless summer. One such population is that of Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana ssp. Insularis) on Santa Rosa Island in Channel Islands National Park. Here we report that the tree-ring width record from this population indicates strong growth sensitivities to summer fog drip and cloud shading. We quantified the effects of summer cloud cover by comparing ring-width indices to coastal airport cloud-frequency records (1944-2004). For the first time observed, summertime cloud frequency correlated positively with ring-width indices, regardless of whether the effect of rainfall was first removed from the ring-width record. The effect of ground-level fog was strongest in July early mornings (03:00 PST, R(2) = 0.262, P < 0.0002). The effect of clouds high enough to provide shade but not fog water was also strongest in July, but climbed steadily throughout the day before becoming strongest in late afternoon (16:00-18:00 PST, R(2) = 0.148, P < 0.004). Correlations were substantially stronger in years with higher soil moisture, suggesting that growth response to summer clouds is strongly affected by pre-summer rainfall. A change in the height and/or timing of coastal cloud formation with climate change would likely affect this and other populations of California's coastal vegetation.

Geochemical evidence for airborne dust additions to soils in Channel Islands National Park, California

Research Article| January 01, 2008 Geochemical evidence for airborne dust additions to soils in Channel Islands National Park, California Daniel R. Muhs; Daniel R. Muhs 1U.S. Geological Survey, M.S. 980, Box 25046, Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar James R. Budahn; James R. Budahn 1U.S. Geological Survey, M.S. 980, Box 25046, Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Donald L. Johnson; Donald L. Johnson 2Department of Geography, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Marith Reheis; Marith Reheis 3U.S. Geological Survey, M.S. 980, Box 25046, Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Jossh Beann; Jossh Beann 3U.S. Geological Survey, M.S. 980, Box 25046, Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Gary Skipp; Gary Skipp 3U.S. Geological Survey, M.S. 980, Box 25046, Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Eric Fisher; Eric Fisher 3U.S. Geological Survey, M.S. 980, Box 25046, Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Julia A. Jones Julia A. Jones 4Department of Geosciences, 104 Wilkinson Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331-5506, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar GSA Bulletin (2008) 120 (1-2): 106–126. https://doi.org/10.1130/B26218.1 Article history received: 09 Mar 2007 rev-recd: 22 Jun 2007 accepted: 25 Jun 2007 first online: 08 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Daniel R. Muhs, James R. Budahn, Donald L. Johnson, Marith Reheis, Jossh Beann, Gary Skipp, Eric Fisher, Julia A. Jones; Geochemical evidence for airborne dust additions to soils in Channel Islands National Park, California. GSA Bulletin 2008;; 120 (1-2): 106–126. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B26218.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract There is an increasing awareness that dust plays important roles in climate change, biogeochemical cycles, nutrient supply to ecosystems, and soil formation. In Channel Islands National Park, California, soils are clay-rich Vertisols or Alfisols and Mollisols with vertic properties. The soils are overlain by silt-rich mantles that contrast sharply with the underlying clay-rich horizons. Silt mantles contain minerals that are rare or absent in the volcanic rocks that dominate these islands. Immobile trace elements (Sc-Th-La and Ta-Nd-Cr) and rare-earth elements show that the basalt and andesite on the islands have a composition intermediate between upper-continental crust and oceanic crust. In contrast, the silt fractions and, to a lesser extent, clay fractions of the silt mantle have compositions closer to average upper-continental crust and very similar to Mojave Desert dust. Island shelves, exposed during the last glacial period, could have provided a source of eolian sediment for the silt mantles, but this is not supported by mineralogical data. We hypothesize that a more likely source for the silt-rich mantles is airborne dust from mainland California and Baja California, either from the Mojave Desert or from the continental shelf during glacial low stands of sea. Although average winds are from the northwest in coastal California, easterly winds occur numerous times of the year when “Santa Ana” conditions prevail, caused by a high-pressure cell centered over the Great Basin. The eolian silt mantles constitute an important medium of plant growth and provide evidence that abundant eolian silt and clay may be delivered to the eastern Pacific Ocean from inland desert sources. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Science and Society: Marine Reserve Design for the California Channel Islands

Abstract: We explored the interaction of science and society in attempts to restore impaired marine ecosystems in Channel Islands National Park and National Marine Sanctuary, California. Deteriorating resource conditions triggered a community's desire to change public policy. Channel Islands National Park, one of 40 marine protected areas in the U.S. National Park System, was proclaimed a national monument in 1938 and expanded substantially in 1980 by an act of Congress. Collapse of marine life populations and loss of 80% of the giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) forests in the park between 1980 and 1998 showed that habitat and water quality protection alone had not secured sustainable ocean ecosystems or fisheries. The failed fishery management strategies and practices prompted formal community and agency requests in 1998 for a network of reserves protected from direct fishing impacts to serve as marine recovery areas. A 2‐year attempt to build a community consensus based on science for a reserve network successfully identified recovery goals for fisheries, biodiversity, education, economics, and heritage values. Nevertheless, the community group failed to garner unanimous support for a specific reserve network to achieve those common goals. The group submitted a recommendation, supported by 14 of 16 members, to state and federal authorities in 2001 for action in their respective jurisdictions. California adopted the half of the network in state waters in 2003. This process exposed the socioeconomic factors involved in the design of marine protected areas that can be negotiated successfully among groups of people and factors determined by nature that cannot be negotiated. Understanding the differences among the factors was crucial in reaching consensus and changing public policy.

Negotiating ecology: Marine bioregions and the destruction of the Southern California Bight

Bioregional studies tend to focus on landscapes and associated cultural and biological diversity. This essay provides a general overview of the ecology of the Southern California Bight (SCB), which is the coastal marine bioregion of southern California. The bioregion is considered one of the most threatened ‘hot spots’ for biodiversity in the world. The SCB includes the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, the Channel Islands National Park, and a designated ‘biosphere reserve’ of the United Nations Man and the Biosphere Program. The essay describes the destruction of southern California's coastal watersheds and wetlands, and provides a summary of the significant decline in ecological productivity of the marine bioregion. Despite the decline in general marine ecosystem integrity, there has been no large-scale planning effort that focuses on the entire coastal marine bioregion. With this in mind, the essay provides an overview of recent policy initiatives that call for the establishment of Marine Protected Areas or MPAs to protect marine ecosystems. Without a new institutional approach to the entire bioregion the future of the coastal marine ecosystems of the system is rather dim. With this in mind, the author recommends a number of institutional changes that support large-scale bioregional planning.

Ants as first intermediate hosts of Mesocestoides on San Miguel Island, USA

This study tested the hypotheses that ants (Formicidae) function as a first intermediate host of Mesocestoides (Cestoda: Mesocestoididae) and that deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) develop metacestode infections after ingesting cysticercoid or procercoid-infected ants. Field studies were conducted at an island fox (Urocyon littoralis littoralis) breeding facility located on San Miguel Island, California Channel Islands National Park, USA, where > 40% of captive foxes were infected with adult Mesocestoides. Eight percent (8%) of deer mice at the fox pen site were infected with Mesocestoides metacestodes while none were infected at a distant site where foxes were absent (campground), thereby indicating the potential localized presence of a first intermediate host. To test whether ants from San Miguel Island contained Mesocestoides DNA, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnostic assay was developed using nested primers that could detect a single hexacanth larva within pooled samples of ten ants. Ants (Lasius niger and Tapinoma sessile) collected near the fox breeding facility were tested using the nested-PCR assay. Seven of 223 pooled samples of L. niger (3.1%) and 2 of 84 pooled samples of T. sessile (2.4%) tested positive for Mesocestoides DNA, while none of the ants were positive at the campground site. Positive samples were sequenced and found to match DNA sequences from Mesocestoides obtained from island fox and deer mice. Finally, to determine whether ants function as a first intermediate host for Mesocestoides, colony-raised deer mice (n = 47) were fed L. niger (n = 3860) or T. sessile (n = 339) collected from the San Miguel Island fox breeding facility. No mouse became infected with Mesocestoides metacestodes after ingesting ants. While both L. niger and T. sessile from SMI were positive for Mesocestoides DNA, they were not infective to deer mice in the laboratory.

National Park stewardship and ?vital signs? monitoring: a case study from Channel Islands National Park, California

1. Place-based conservation strategies require that stewards know and understand the targeted ecosystems, restore impaired resources, protect the ecosystems, and connect people wholeheartedly to the places. Knowledge of ecosystem structure and functioning is the cornerstone of stewardship. 2. This paper describes the design, implementation, and application of an ecological monitoring programme in Channel Islands National Park, California, USA. Experience from this programme showed that monitoring ecological ‘vital signs’ was a quick, sure, and inexpensive way to discover and track ecosystem dynamics. 3. Monitoring ecological ‘vital signs’ determined status and trends of ecosystem integrity and established limits of normal variation of key ecosystem features. It also provided early warnings of situations that required intervention and helped frame research questions to determine chains of cause and consequence. 4. The strong influence and probabilistic nature of biological interactions in ecosystems precluded effective use of deterministic modelling to predict ecosystem behaviour accurately. Therefore, ongoing monitoring was required to increase knowledge of system dynamics reliably. The US National Park Service has begun to identify and monitor the ecological ‘vital signs’ in 32 networks of 270 parks. Published in 2004 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

FISHING FOR LOBSTERS INDIRECTLY INCREASES EPIDEMICS IN SEA URCHINS

Two ecological paradigms, the trophic cascade and the host‐density threshold in disease, interact in the kelp‐forest ecosystem to structure the community. To investigate what happens when a trophic cascade pushes a host population over a host‐threshold density, I analyzed a 20‐year data set of kelp forest communities at 16 sites in the region of the Channel Islands National Park, California, USA. Historically, lobsters, and perhaps other predators, kept urchin populations at low levels and kelp forests developed a community‐level trophic cascade. In geographic areas where the main predators on urchins were fished, urchin populations increased to the extent that they overgrazed algae and starvation eventually limited urchin‐population growth. Despite the limitation of urchin population size by food availability, urchin densities, at times, well exceeded the host‐density threshold for epidemics. An urchin‐specific bacterial disease entered the region after 1992 and acted as a density‐dependent mortality source. Dense populations were more likely to experience epidemics and suffer higher mortality. Disease did not reduce the urchin population at a site to the density that predators previously did. Therefore, disease did not fully replace predators in the trophic cascade. These results indicate how fishing top predators can indirectly favor disease transmission in prey populations.

Effects of Local Deforestation on the Diversity and Structure of Southern California Giant Kelp Forest Food Webs

It has been hypothesized that the high diversity of giant kelp forests is due primarily to the provision of energy and habitat by the giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera). In this article, I use a 19-year-long kelp forest-monitoring data set from the Channel Islands National Park (a) to identify associations between subtidal species and forested or deforested habitats, (b) to generate an idealized food web for Southern California giant kelp forests in order to identify the primary conduits of energy flow through the system, and (c) to determine changes in the diversity and complexity of this food web due to localized giant kelp deforestation. A total of 275 common species were observed in the park between 1982 and 2000, of which 36% occurred significantly more often in kelp-forested areas than in deforested areas (that is, sea urchin barrens); 25 species were found exclusively in forested areas. Most of these associations were clearly identified as trophic and/or structural associations with giant kelp itself. The producer level of the food web was diverse, although giant kelp apparently represents the greatest single source of fixed carbon through either direct grazing or the production of phytodetritus. Primary, secondary and tertiary consumer levels were also represented by numerous species, and generalist consumers were common. With deforestation, the source of primary production shifts from primarily kelps to ephemeral microalgae, macroalgae, and phytoplankton. These results support the reliance of giant kelp forest food-web structure and diversity on the presence of the forest itself.

Beached Shipwrecks from Channel Islands National Park, California

Three shipwreck sites of the 19th century in Channel Islands National Park, California form case studies in evaluating the contribution of beached shipwrecks to maritime and historical archaeology. Two of the sites are consistent with the historically-documented Pacific coast lumber schooners J. M. Colman and Dora Bluhm, but the archaeological record is sparse. Material remains are compared to primary documents, such as original 19th-century construction contracts and insurance classifications, to make a case for the beached shipwreck scatters belonging to these ships. A third site, Comet, presents the other end of the spectrum; its remains have been conclusively identified by historical photographs and the site is a partially-intact hull embedded in the beach sand. This site was also recorded in detail and the formation processes of all three sites were examined to aid in archaeological interpretation.

Effects of marine reserves and urchin disease on southern Californian rocky reef communities

While the species level effects of marine reserves are widely recognized, community level shifts due to marine reserves have only recently been documented. Protection from fishing of top predators may lead to trophic cascades, which have community-wide implications. Disease may act in a similar manner, regulating population levels of dominant species within a community. Two decades of data from the Channel Islands National Park Service's Kelp Forest Monitoring database allowed us to compare the effects of fishing and urchin disease on rocky reef community patterns and dynamics. Different size-frequency distributions of urchins inside and outside of reserves indicated reduced predation on urchins at sites where fishing removes urchin predators. Rocky reefs inside reserves were more likely to support kelp forests than were fished areas. We suggest that this results from cascading effects of the fishery on urchin predators outside the reserves, which releases herbi- vores (urchins) from predation. After periods of prevalent urchin disease, the reef community shifted more towards kelp forest assemblages. Specific groups of algae and invertebrates were associated with kelp forest and barrens communities. The community dynamics leading to transitions between kelp forests and barrens are driven by both fishing and disease; however the fishery effect was of greater magnitude. This study further confirms the importance of marine reserves not only for fisheries conservation, but also for the conservation of historically dominant community types.

Beached Shipwrecks from Channel Islands National Park, California

Beached Shipwrecks from Channel Islands National Park, California

The Role of Dispersal and Disturbance in Determining Spatial Heterogeneity in Sedentary Organisms

The dispersal ability of seeds, spores, and larvae can greatly influence spatial heterogeneity in the abundance of plants and sedentary animals, especially after a severe and widespread disturbance has caused extensive population declines and opened large areas for colonization by propagules. However, little work has been done on the relationship between propagule dispersal and spatial heterogeneity in species abundance. We hypothesize that, shortly after a disturbance, spatial variability in abundance of sedentary organisms is negatively related to the dispersal potential of a species' propagules, and that this negative relationship diminishes over time as populations recover from the disturbance. To evaluate this hypothesis, we examined temporal changes in spatial patterns of abundance in a diverse group of sedentary marine organisms, whose propagules differ greatly in dispersal potential. The data set was derived from long-term monitoring of the kelp forest communities of Channel Islands National Park and contained annual estimates of abundance of 27 species from nine phyla collected at 16 sites on five different islands during 1986–1994. Among-site variability in the abundance of plants and animals was negatively related to the planktonic duration of a species' propagules. The negative relationship disappeared over time in some regions, but not in others. This disappearance resulted primarily from species with relatively limited dispersal becoming more uniformly distributed over time; among-site variability of species with more widespread dispersal changed little. Differences among regions in the rate at which the negative relationship diminished over time suggested regional differences in rates of recovery from the 1982–1984 El Niño disturbance. These differences among regions may have resulted in part from differences in the frequency and intensity of sea urchin grazing, and in part from regional differences in the distances separating sites where abundances were measured. Our findings support the hypothesis that differential dispersal after large disturbances can significantly influence spatial heterogeneity in assemblages of sedentary organisms.

THE ROLE OF DISPERSAL AND DISTURBANCE IN DETERMINING SPATIAL HETEROGENEITY IN SEDENTARY ORGANISMS

The dispersal ability of seeds, spores, and larvae can greatly influence spatial heterogeneity in the abundance of plants and sedentary animals, especially after a severe and widespread disturbance has caused extensive population declines and opened large areas for colonization by propagules. However, little work has been done on the relationship between propagule dispersal and spatial heterogeneity in species abundance. We hypothesize that, shortly after a disturbance, spatial variability in abundance of sedentary organisms is negatively related to the dispersal potential of a species' propagules, and that this negative relationship diminishes over time as populations recover from the disturbance. To evaluate this hypothesis, we examined temporal changes in spatial patterns of abundance in a diverse group of sedentary marine organisms, whose propagules differ greatly in dispersal potential. The data set was derived from long-term monitoring of the kelp forest communities of Channel Islands National Park ...

The spatial characteristics of stand structure in Pinus torreyana

The arrangement of trees within a stand by location and age (stand structure) is in part determined by the life history strategy of the species and the disturbance history of the stand. In western North America such disturbances are often the product of wildfires and human management activities. The current study uses spatial analysis to characterize three stands of Pinus torreyana with known disturbance histories. Two stands are located at Torrey Pines State Reserve (TPSR). Of these, one stand has burned twice since 1972. Fire has been successfully excluded from the other stand since the early part of this century. A third stand, on Santa Rosa Island, Channel Islands National Park (SRI), has been grazed heavily since the mid-19th century and has not experienced fire since that time. One-hectare study plots were established in the interior of each stand. Considering the known life history attributes of P. torreyana, and the disturbance histories of the stands, predictions are made concerning the spatial characteristics of the respective stands. All trees within each study plot were sized by diameter breast height (DBH) and mapped. Three techniques of spatial analysis are applied to the resulting unweighted point pattern distributions and the distributions weighted by the square root of DBH as a surrogate for age. The results are consistent with predictions and confirm the following generalizations concerning patterns of aggregation in Torrey pine stands. Young trees tend to be more aggregated than old trees within the same stands. Young stands tend to be more aggregated than old stands on otherwise ecologically similar sites. On a periodically disturbed site there are clusters of trees that represent cohorts of post-disturbance recruitment.

Review: Channel Islands National Park and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary: Submerged Cultural Resources Assessment. Intermountain Cultural Resource Centers Professional Paper Number 56, by Don P. Morris and James Lima

Review: <i>Channel Islands National Park and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary: Submerged Cultural Resources Assessment. Intermountain Cultural Resource Centers Professional Paper Number 56</i>, by Don P. Morris and James Lima

Soils and vegetation of Santa Barbara Island, Channel Islands National Park, California, USA

The multifaceted development of an erosion surface on Santa Barbara Island, Channel Islands National Park, California, has led to this study of the relationship between soils and vegetation. A dry Mediterranean climate and past attempts at farming and introductions of alien species have led to vegetative degradation accompanied by both gully and surface erosion. Soil and vegetation analyses show this erosion to be in a location of transition. The soils are Typic Chromoxererts (Vertisol Order) with high clay, salinity, and sodium contents. The vegetation is ecotonal in nature, grading from a principally alien annual grassland withAvena fatua andAtriplex semibaccata to a shrub community dominated by the nativeSuaeda californica. Management toward revegetation and stabilization of this island ecosystem will be difficult with high clay, saline-sodic soils and disturbed vegetation.

Baselevel, Grade and Peneplain

Baselevel, Grade and Peneplain