Research Activities

Researchers
Dust collectors at Los Osos

Current and Past Research projects

As part of the UC Reserve System, one of the major missions of the James and Los Osos Reserves is to promote scientific research of the natural systems they contain. To that end, the Reserves have supported a variety of research efforts in various scientific disciplines. Some of the more recent efforts include:

James Reserve:

  • State-wide acorn production survey (research update) (researcher’s website)
  • Mountain yellow-legged frog reintroduction (research update).
  • Is nest mate recognition relaxed in introduced populations of Vespula pensylvanica, an invasive yellowjacket wasp? (research details)
  • Population processes in an invasive plant species (research details).
  • Variations in fire-adapted traits in the shrub Ceanothus (research details).
  • Nest box monitoring (research details)
  • Microbial response to climate change and the effect of local adaptation (research details).
  • Remote sensing of moss growth relative to climatic factors (research details).
  • Measurement of ecosystem metabolism across climatic and vegetation gradients.
  • Controls on the response of California’s ecosystems to environmental change.
  • The chemical ecology of aggregating convergent ladybird beetles (research details).
  • Ecosystem ozone flux and stomatal uptake.

Oasis de los Osos

  • Arthropods as the missing link to understanding the ecological impact of an invasive plant (research details, researcher’s website).
  • Bioassessment sampling at Oasis de los Osos (research details).
  • Identification of dust-associated aeolian microbial communities in southern California (research details).
  • Paleoseismology of the Garnet Hill Fault near Whitewater Canyon

Bibliography

An integral part of doing research is disseminating the results. The UC Natural Reserve System provides access to a bibliographic database of research projects at reserves. Scroll down to the James Reserve link to view publications associated with the Reserve on the bibliography application Zotero.  

Research photos