UC Davis Researchers Join $6M Statewide Effort to Conserve California Coast
Funded by the California Ocean Protection Council (OPC), California Sea Grant will administer more than $6 million to nine research and restoration projects to inform the state’s goal of conserving thirty percent of its lands and coastal waters by 2030. Among them are four projects involving researchers at the University of California, Davis, working in the coastal and marine sciences.
Read more from California Sea Grant here
Learn more about the individual projects:
USING ECOLOGICAL GENOMICS TO ADVANCE EELGRASS RESTORATION IN CALIFORNIA
Project Lead: Darcy Bradley (The Nature Conservancy)
Co-PIs: Bryan DeAngelis (The Nature Conservancy); John J Stachowicz (University of California, Davis); Rachael Bay (University of California, Davis)
Associate PIs: Katharyn Boyer (San Francisco State University); Emily Jones (Cal Poly Humboldt); Kevin Hovel (San Diego State University); Randall Hughes (Northeastern University); Carolyn Geraghty (Morro Bay National Estuary Program)
Summary: This project will use genetic tools and field experiments to help protect and restore eelgrass across California's bays and estuaries in the face of rising ocean temperatures. By identifying which populations of eelgrass are best adapted to heat, the research team will give managers the data needed to make better-informed decisions about where to protect existing eelgrass beds and how to source plants for future restoration efforts.
ESTUARIES AT LARGE: ASSESSING BAR-BUILT ESTUARIES IN CALIFORNIA FOR THEIR CONSERVATION POTENTIAL
Project Lead: John Durand (University of California, Davis)
Co-PI: Karen Thorne (U.S. Geological Survey)
Summary: California has more than 250 coastal estuaries that periodically seal off from the ocean, forming what scientists call bar-built estuaries — yet these ecosystems are among the least studied and least protected along the entire coast. This project will assess the conservation value of bar-built estuaries in California, combining satellite imagery with on-the-ground field surveys to evaluate their biodiversity, health and resilience to sea level rise. The findings will identify the best candidates for expanded coastal protection, while prioritizing communities that are not currently served by existing conservation areas.
IDENTIFYING MULTI-SPECIES CLIMATE REFUGIA ALONG THE CALIFORNIA COAST TO SUPPORT THE 30X30 INITIATIVE
Project Lead: Jerome Fiechter (University of California, Santa Cruz)
Co-PIs: Maria Mercedes Pozo Buil (University of South Carolina); Christopher Free (University of California, Santa Barbara); Mikaela Provost (University of California, Davis)
Summary: As ocean temperatures rise and water quality shifts along the California coast, certain areas — called climate refugia — will remain stable enough to shelter marine life from warming temperatures, decreasing oxygen levels and increasing acidification. This project will map where those refugia are likely to occur along California's coast for 28 ecologically and economically important species, from sharks and groundfish to deep-sea corals and invertebrates (such as Dungeness crab and red abalone). The findings will be delivered through an interactive online tool to help managers identify the best areas to protect while minimizing impacts on fishing communities and other coastal users.
Project Lead: Alyssa Frederick (Bodega Marine Laboratory)
Co-PIs: Lauren Ashlock (University of California, Davis); Tom Ford (The Bay Foundation); Heather Burdick (The Bay Foundation); Adam Obaza (Paua Marine Research Group)
Summary: White abalone were once abundant along the California coast, but overharvest reduced their population to less than 1% of its original size — so low that the animals can rarely get close enough to reproduce successfully. This project will breed more white abalone in captivity, release them at new sites along the Southern California coast and monitor their survival, taking an essential step toward recovering a species that has been federally listed as endangered since 2001.