California Mediterranean Research Learning Center

Research Categories:
Biological Cultural Fire Ecology	Paleontology Physical Science	Restoration Ecology Social Science

Owl Limpet (Lottia gigantea)

Cabrillo National Monument Facts:

• Created on October 14, 1913 to memorialize the first European expedition to the North American West Coast, led by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo

• Cabrillo National Monument comprises more than 160 acres of coastal environment

• The park is located on a 400-foot peninsula near between the Pacific Ocean and the adjacent city of San Diego

• Cabrillo National Monument is the highest point on Cabrillo National Monument, whose light shown at 465 feet above sea level

• Old Point Loma Lighthouse, one of the first on the West Coast, is the highest point on Cabrillo National Monument

• Cabrillo National Monument welcomes 1,100,000 visitors per year

• The park is known for its well-preserved rocky intertidal areas and its views of the adjacent landscapes and annual gray whale migrations

Please contact the Cabrillo National Monument for more information at (619) 557-5450, or visit their website at www.nps.gov/cabr.

Biological Resources

Consistent with other Mediterranean ecosystems, Cabrillo National Monument is tremendously diverse and includes over 1,200 species of organisms, including more than 70 sensitive species, 200 bird species, and others that reside in the marine and terrestrial environments.

Many habitats on the peninsula have been recognized as endangered by the California Natural Resource Diversity Database. Due to high annual visitation rates and associated human activities within the park, many environments experience significant negative impacts.

Current Research
Scientific studies at the park focus on connecting biological research to park management needs, particularly with respect to endangered, threatened, sensitive and rare species, habitat degradation and disturbance, and the spread of non-native species. Current efforts include:

• The discovery of a new annual plant, Aphanisma blitoides (Dossey & Associates), which could be one population of a species found in only a few locations on the mainland

• The impact of human activity on the intertidal zones at the monument

• Collecting data and information from tidepools since 1990 on 13 key species, such as the California mussel, common rockweed, owl limpet, acorn barnacles, goose barnacles, and thatched barnacles

Research Opportunities
The National Park Service is especially interested in all types of biological research that help identify, understand, and protect natural resources. Studies of particular interest include:

• Further research on habitat fragmentation, invasive exotic species, and human influences on terrestrial and marine ecosystem processes and components

• Work with bird species, tidal environments (e.g., offshore kelp forest influences on the intertidal zones), and terrestrial and marine invertebrates

• Baseline inventories and natural history studies of under-studied groups such as bats, medium-sized mammals and mesocarnivores, and insects

• Baseline inventories and natural history studies on endangered, threatened, sensitive, and rare species

• Determining the general distribution and abundance for vascular and non-vascular plants

• Assistance in understanding topics of special management interests, such as invasive non-native plants and invertebrates

• Assistance in understanding endangered, threatened, sensitive, and rare species

• Reasons for losses of or persistence of site-specific natives

• Effects of fire (or the lack thereof) on site-specific terrestrial habitats