The Lockheed Fire occurred in August 2009, burning 7,819 acres of the coastal mountains north of Santa Cruz, California. The fire burned a large portion of the Scotts Creek watershed, including over 90 % of the Little Creek watershed, much of which is on Cal Poly’s Swanton Pacific Ranch (SPR). After intense winter rains in 2010 there was a significant amount of hillslope-derived sediment deposited on the roads and in the creek. A large portion of this material was derived from two chaparral hillslopes. These hillslopes were identified as the only two hillslopes within the Little Creek subwatershed where an extensive network of rill erosion had occurred. The purpose of this study was to determine what factors were related to the erosion process on two burned hillslopes. Water repellency, infiltration, saturated hydraulic conductivity, and particle size class were assessed to determine how the impacts of the fire affect the soil physical properties where rill erosion occurred. In order to address this goal, the soil physical properties were characterized on two hillslopes influenced by three different types of parent material: Santa Cruz mudstone, Santa Margarita sandstone and colluvium derived mainly from the Santa Cruz mudstone. The study, consisted of 10 transects and three sampling points at 3, 18 and 27 m, on 45-80% southeastern facing slopes. The vegetation consisted of knobcone pine chaparral mix, transitioning down slope to a chaparral mix. The results showed slope length, clay content and infiltration, were statistically significant. Hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) and slope steepness were not significant, but were included as associated variables with the occurrence of rilling. The study has provided information about post fire soil properties to determine what factors contribute to rill erosion causing the sedimentation into the streams. The observation from the study site can be used in similar conditions within the coastal mountain range setting, thus helping to create models for future planning of the overall watershed management.

Fusarium circinatum (Nirenberg & O'Donnell) or pitch canker, has the potential to have a tremendous impact on the economies which depend on the harvest and refined processing of Pinus radiata (D.Don) saw/”fiber” logs. This negative financial impact is compounded with environmental implications. These reasons are why Chile, New Zealand, and Australia, the principal producers of exotic Pinus radiata have entered into a coalition under ENSIS with the title of the IMPACT project (Balocchi et al., 1999). The field trial associated with the IMPACT project was located at Swanton Pacific Ranch; Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Ranch in Davenport, California. Soil moisture and lesion lengths, non-native origin, both macro (national) and micro (tree breeder) were correlated with survival. Due to a natural drainage and a wet winter, high soil moisture had a negative impact on survival in the establishment phase. Lesion length also correlated with survival, the longer the lesion length found in Phase I, the more likely the stock would have a poor survival rate. It was also theorized by observations made during propagation, by Annie Mix and Dr. DetLev Vogler that the seed’s origins and sub origins affected their survival during propagation and could potentially affect the survivorship in the field trial. Each of the participating nations employs various seed collection, storage and pollination methods which could explain some differences in survivorship. The evaluation that resulted from this research based on Origin and Sub origin supported that hypothesis. With all of these inherent factors, before resistance conclusions can be made, the overall validity of the comparison must be determined.

Several subspecies of Monardella villosa (California Coyote Mint) have been distinguished on the basis of leaf thickness, shape, and trichome characteristics, yet many intermediates are known. We investigated morphological differences in natural populations of two subspecies (M. v. subsp. villosa and M. v. subsp. franciscana) in the Scott Creek watershed, north of Davenport, in Santa Cruz County, CA. Monardella villosa subsp. franciscana grows in coastal scrub in gulches and ocean terraces whereas subsp. villosa grows at more protected inland sites. Morphological difference between subspecies may be adaptations to these different habitats. I grew plants in a common garden at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo to determine if the morphological differences were genetically based. I also conducted a reciprocal transplant of the two subspecies between inland and coastal populations to determine if they are locally adapted. The morphological differences (leaf hair density and length as well as leaf base angle) between subspecies were maintained in the common garden, yet no patterns of local adaptation were observed in germination or survival of the subspecies in reciprocal transplants in the first year. However, Monardella is a perennial plant and fitness differences may exist in later life stages that I have not yet measured.

Swanton Pacific Ranch is an approximately 1,300 ha working ranch and forest in northern Santa Cruz County, California, managed by California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly). On August 12, 2009, the Lockheed Fire burned 300 ha of forestland, 51% of the forested area on the property, with variable fire intensity and mortality. This study used existing inventory data from 47 permanent 0.08 ha (1/5 ac) plots to compare the accuracy of classifying mortality resulting from the fire using digital multispectral imagery and LiDAR. The percent mortality of trees at least 25.4 cm (10”) DBH was aggregated to three classes (0-25, 25-50, and 50-100%). Three separate Classification Analysis and Regression Tree (CART) models were created to classify plot mortality. The first used the best imagery predictor variable of those considered, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) calculated from 2010 National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) aerial imagery, with shadowed pixel values adjusted, and non-canopy pixels removed. The second used the same NDVI in combination with selected variables from post-fire LiDAR data collected in 2010. The third used the same NDVI in combination with selected variables from differenced LiDAR data calculated using post-fire LiDAR and pre-fire LiDAR collected in 2008. The imagery alone was 74% accurate; the imagery and post-fire LiDAR model was 85% accurate, while the imagery and differenced LiDAR model was 83% accurate. These findings indicate that remote sensing data can accurately estimate post-fire mortality, and that the addition of LiDAR data to imagery may yield only modest improvement.

Rivers and streams are adversely affected by an increase in sedimentation in their waters from eroding land. High sediment loads in streams can bury fish eggs and prevent hatching, increasing nutrients in the water causing algae blooms, or even contaminating the water with heavy metals carried in or on the aggregates. The erodibility of soil is valuable knowledge to all land users so that we may predict soil loss and its potential to pollute streams. This is done by using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). By predicting soil loss from a given landscape, land managers can take mitigation measures. The precision of the current scale available for soil erodibility (K-factor) by the US Department of Agriculture is not useful to small landowners or on a site-by-site basis. In California’s Central Coast, a grassland hillslope toposequence was investigated in a Los Osos-Diablo soil series complex. Geographic information systems software was used for spatial analysis of variation in the K-factor as well as interpolating areas that were not sampled. Analysis of soils’ particle size, infiltration rate, organic matter content, and structure across the toposequence allowed calculation of the soils’ K-factor values. K-factor values for the footslope, backslope, and shoulder were found to be statistically different from one another. All slope position’s average K-factor values were statistically different than the published Los Osos and Diablo series’ K-factor with the exception of the backslope which was not significantly different than Diablo’s K-factor value. The average of all K-factors was found not to be statistically different than the Los Osos’ K-factor but it was statistically different from the Diablo’s soil series K-factor. The USDA K-factors overestimated the predicted soil loss for the study site.

Five hundred eighty red alder along a 2.16 km portion of the Little Creek riparian zone were assessed for mortality following the 2009 Lockheed Fire near Davenport, California. The study area was divided into burn severity zones and every red alder within the riparian zone was observed and assessed for mortality. Height, diameter at breast height (DBH), and age were collected on selected trees. An estimation of red alder large woody debris (LWD) input to Little Creek since a 2010 LWD survey (Smith, 2010) was calculated using average red alder tree dimensions applied to Smalian’s formula (MLNRO, 2011). The mean proportion of dead red alder in the non-burn zone and burn-zone was .11 and .45 respectively. Volume of red alder LWD in Little Creek is estimated to have increased approximately 245% since the fire. Given other factors may have played a role in red alder mortality in Little Creek, the analysis reported here supports fire also contributed to accelerated mortality of red alder established following the catastrophic debris torrent in 1955 in Little Creek. This study provides useful information regarding fire and red alder and establishes baseline conditions of the Little Creek riparian zone following the 2009 Lockheed Fire.

Scotts Creek, in Santa Cruz County, Calif., supports the southernmost extant population of Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in North America. In 1997, the California Department of Fish and Game (now Fish and Wildlife) conducted an extensive habitat typing survey of mainstem Scotts Creek, describing all habitat units from the top of the estuary to the limit of anadromy approximately 12 km upstream. I repeated this survey in 2013 to (1) assess changes in the quantity and quality of instream habitat, (2) compare the current condition to goals and standards established in the federal Central California Coast (CCC) Coho Salmon Recovery Plan, and (3) identify opportunities for possible future restoration. A comparison of the two surveys revealed an overall increase in mean canopy cover, mean bank vegetation, mean percentage instream cover, pool depth diversity, and percentage riffles since 1997, and decreases in mean residual pool depth, percentage flatwater, and number of primary pools. Overall, the percentage of the total mainstem classified as pool habitat did not change between the two survey periods. Results for individual habitat metrics were more variable when the stream was broken into discrete reaches delineated by major tributary junctions. Although a large woody debris (LWD) survey was not conducted as part of the 1997 survey, contrasting our results with data collected during intervening years indicated that instream LWD has become more abundant, primarily due to increases in hard-wood species (i.e., red alder [Alnus rubra] and California bay [Umbellularia californica]). When compared to habitat goals established in the federal CCC Coho Salmon Recovery Plan, Scotts Creek has adequate canopy cover and percentage pools, but is lacking in percentage riffles, instream cover, key pieces of LWD per100 m, and percentage primary pools.

Swanton Pacific Ranch is an educational and research facility owned by the Cal Poly Corporation and managed by the Cal Poly State University (Cal Poly) College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. Located about 180 miles north of campus and just 14 miles north of Santa Cruz, California on Highway 1, the property was first leased to and then donated to Cal Poly by the late Albert E. Smith in 1993. The rancho’s original inhabitants included Native Americans, Spaniards, Mexicans, as well as various European immigrants and their descendants; currently, the staff, faculty, and students of Cal Poly occupy the land. Each of these groups used the land’s rich environment for a variety of purposes from subsistence to financial and intellectual pursuits. Over time, researchers and local historians have discussed specific aspects of the Swanton Pacific Ranch and its environs, particularly concerning its occupants, land use (e.g. businesses, farming, research), and land features (e.g. geology, botany). The following work offers a more cohesive, descriptive narrative of the land and its people organized chronologically from prehistory to the present.

Geographic Information System (GIS) is “an organized collection of computer hardware, software, geographic data, and personnel designed to efficiently capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze, and display all forms of geographically referenced information” (ESRI, 1997a). The Natural Resources Management Department at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California, hereafter NRM, was one of the early users of GIS technology. Although GIS was primarily used as an educational tool, it was also used for cataloging and displaying resource information for management planning and research projects. As the computing technology advanced, GIS became more powerful and easier to use. NRM faculty and students realized that GIS is the best tool to manage spatial information. In addition, GIS can also manage temporal data. While we are proud of past achievements using GIS, its future prospects for managing time and space information promise even more exciting possibilities and tangible benefits. This scholarly project is a compilation of GIS achievements in NRM.

Six geomorphic study reaches were established in 2002 along a forested mountain stream (gradients range from 0.02 to 0.05) on Cal Poly's Swanton Pacific Ranch in Santa Cruz County, California. These study reaches are a component of paired and nested watershed studies in the approximately 500 hectare Little Creek watershed. The overall goal of this study was to monitor water quality and channel conditions before, during, and after a selective harvest of redwood. A selective harvest occurred in the North Fork of Little Creek in Summer 2008. In August 2009, approximately 90% of the Little Creek Watershed was burned in the Lockheed Fire. Channel change was evaluated by measuring ground profiles using traditional survey methods. Cross section and longitudinal profiles are surveyed annually every summer in the six study reaches. Change is assessed through evaluation of cross sections and longitudinal profiles, analysis of bed elevation and cross-sectional area change data, and analysis of residual pool characteristics and longitudinal profile variability. Changes in the channel during this time have been relatively small and are typically associated with movement or introduction of coarse woody debris to the stream channel. However, during the study period no large stream flow events occurred (return interval at the closest USGS gauging station does not exceed 5 years). Historically, large debris flow events have occurred in this watershed, with well documented events in 1955 and 1998. The survey data is an important tool for understanding change detection in channel characteristics before and after harvesting, and following fire disturbance.