California Mediterranean Research Learning Center

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

Mariposa lily (Calochortus)

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Facts:

• Approximately 153,000 acres make Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area the world's largest urban national park

• The recreation area is surrounded by a megalopolis of 17 million people - the Los Angeles metropolitan area

• More than 33 million visitors enjoy the beaches and mountains in the recreation area each year

• An extraordinary density of nearly 1,000 archeological sites exist within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

• Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is home to 25 rare, threatened, or endangered species of plants and animals

Please contact the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area for more information at (805) 370-2300, or visit their website at www.nps.gov/samo.

Restoration Ecology

The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area's restoration ecology program addresses extensive non-native invasive plant species infestations, maintains or re-establishes native plant communities and ecosystems, and mitigates a variety of human-related impacts through active programs of invasive species mapping and eradication and native plant seed collection, propagation, and out-planting.

Our restoration ecology staff works closely with the park's plant ecology program to gain a greater understanding of plant community distribution, dynamics, and succession within the mountains. This knowledge is then used to further refine and design the ecological restoration program.

Current Research
On-going research in restoration ecology is performed by the park's ecologists, graduate students from local universities, student interns, and other park partners. Current topics include:

• The relative impacts of different non-native invasive plant species on native species richness, both for native plants and insects

• Experimental tests of the efficacy of different restoration practices, including planting practices and eradication practices

• Investigations of the long-term stability and function of restored areas

• Examination of rates of spread of specific non-native invasive species and the role of herbivores in the success or failure of grassland restoration projects

• Population biology and ecology of a number of federally listed plant species in an effort to design effective species-specific conservation and management strategies

Research Opportunities
We are particularly interested in research that helps us prioritize, design and implement our restoration program. A wide variety of research falls into this category including:

• Research on non-native invasive species distribution, ecological impacts and best management practices for eradication

• Research on native plant communities that identifies successive trajectories, ecosystem characteristics or abiotic determinants of community composition

• Research on trophic interactions including the role of native insects and animals in restoration

• Research on recruitment and retention of volunteers

• Research on the most effective and efficient monitoring strategies for evaluating management actions