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Research student at California University Channel Islands majoring in Environmental Science and Resource management (ESRM). Conducting research on the Santa Rosa Island Torrey Pine population.
Demography Plots and GIS Analysis of the Island Torrey Pine Outline
Demography Plots and GIS Analysis of the Island Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana ssp. Insularis)
I will be conducting my capstone on the Torrey Pine, Pinus torreyana. This tree is a rare remnant of the Pleistocene Era. Santa Rosa Island (SRI) is the last remaining location in which this subspecies, Insularis, is located. Through monitoring SRI Torrey Pine demography plots already in place, I will collect data and add any additional data found while analyzing four groves on SRI ( created by : Travis Hall). The groves: Cogan Grove, Main Grove, North Grove, and Box Canyon. The Torrey Pines in the groves are ID tagged. I will collect information in order to determine in what temporal space these trees are growing and how have they changed. I will collect diameter at breast height (DBH) for trees with a height greater than 160cm, height of the pine with a classification stages (Adult: height greater than 160cm with cones; Sub-adult: height greater than 160cm without cones, saplings; Saplings: height between 30-160cm; Seedlings: height less than 30cm) Additionally, if there are any missing tags or new trees I will add a tag and update the data sheet. Using the data that I collect and the previously collected data (Travis Hall) will allow me to determine if the population in each of the four groves is increasing, decreasing, or stable. It should be noted that the habitat on SRI has been dramatically impacted in the past by human induced grazing animals. Since the removal of these animals, 2013, Torrey Pine populations have been expected to increase.
After the Demography plots are analyzed I will take aerial photographs that have been purchased by CSUCI and analyze them. I am still unsure the exact dates that the images will be traced back to, however it will most likely contain images from 1929, 1959, and a recent photograph. These photographs have also geo-referenced to the same extent. I will use GIS to overlay the images. I will mark individual trees within GIS, and use programs such as Moran I Test- a cluster and outlier test, as well as the multi distance spatial analysis tool to summarize spatial dependence over a range of clusters. I will use this to further explore and show visually the changes within the four groves over time and the overall health of the individual groves.
Casey's Capstone 2015-10-13 16:17:51
Carter, T.G., Liu, P.L.F., and Mie, C.C., 1973. Mass Transport by waves
and offshore sand bed forms. A.S.C.E. Proc., Jour. Waterways and Harbors Div, 99, 165-184.
This reference is helpful source of information for the understanding of how currents will affect barrier beach breaching.
Finley, R.J., 1979, Ebb-tidal delta morphology and sediment supply in
Relation to seasonal wave energy flux, North Inlet, South Carolina. Jour. Sed Petrol. 48, 227-238.
This reference is helpful to understand flood and ebb tide influences and inlet formation.
Griggs, G., K. Patsch, and L. Savoy. 2005. Living With the Changing
California Coast. University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, California, USA and England.
This reference is helpful for the diagrams of the watershed and dynamics of coastal environments.
Grotzinger, J., P., and T. Jordan. 2014. Understanding Earth Seventh
Edition. W.H. Freeman and Company, Houndmills, New York, USA.
This reference is helpful for a deeper understanding of the agents that form beaches.
Komar, P., D. 1976. Beach processes and sedimentation. Prentice-Hall,
Inc, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, USA.
This reference is helpful tool of knowing scientific names of what you are seeing at the beach.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Tide Tables.
National Ocean Survey, 2015.
This reference is helpful because of knowledge about up to date tide conditions can greatly influence beach profiles.
O’Hirok, L., S., 1985. Barrier Beach Formation and Breaching.
University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
This reference is helpful to compare historical and current data. This is also helpful to find great sources of information.
Outland, R., F. 1979 Man-Made Disaster: The Story of St. Francis Dam,
Its Place in Southern California’s Water System, Its failure and the Tragedy in the Santa Clara River Valley. Western Historical Quarterly. Volume 10, pp. 82-83
This reference is helpful because of a historically based knowledge is critical to knowing what the current state of the river is in.
Pilkey, O., H., W. Neal, J. Kelley, and A Cooper. 2011. The World’s
Beaches A Global Guide to the Science of the Shoreline. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California, USA.
This reference is helpful source of reading a beach from a local to a global scale.
Viles, H. 1991. Coastal Geomorphology. University of Oxford, Oxford,
United Kingdom. Volume15. pp. 182
This reference is helpful to a greater understanding of the evolution of geomorphology.
Santa Clara Recon
“It wouldn’t be called research if we knew what we were doing.” -Einstein
Big thanks to Dr. O’Hirok and Patrick Costa for coming out to help pick spots along the beach that would give the most exciting results for profiling. Learning how to use the GPS was also helpful given the sand is forever moving.
About
Casey Lysdale is the Environmental Coordinator of the California State University Channel Islands Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. The Surfrider Foundation is an international environmental organization dedicated to the protection and enhancement of the world’s waves and beaches through conservation, activism, research, and education (CARE). Casey has been working to restore the coast and watershed in Ventura, California.
SandCrabs and Micro Plastics/Fibers
As of Friday I was able to get 31 sand crabs dissected and 20 of them had ambient fibers in their stomach content or surrounding tissues. That is approximately 64% of the sandcrabs so far have ambient fibers. Since the data from the summer research institute shows that a high percentage of the beaches sampled also had fibers and micro plastics, I hypothesize I will continue to find microfibers in the sand crabs.
Over the weekend I was able to travel north to San Louis Obispo county and collect 35 more crabs from 3 different sites as well as sand samples to process. Hopefully my contacts in Orange county, Santa Cruz and San Francisco will come thru with more sand crabs and sand samples as well. I am hoping to get a wide geographic range in sampling to see what I find.
Once the collected crabs are dissected I plan to test a hypothesis that the sand crabs will ingest micro plastics by sequestering them into small jars with sea water and exposing them to plastic microbeads I have filtered out of a face soap product that will be on the “to be banned” list if legislation is passed.
Capstone Project Update 10/3/2015
I am currently working on an application for a permit from the Torrey Pines State Reserve (TPSR), as well as collecting background references for my Capstone introduction.
Recon Success
This weekend on Santa Rosa Island, I did recon work for Water Canyon. This weekend was very productive, I now feel confident identifying the plant species in this watershed and a plan for future data collection has been established. This week the logistics of the project will be finalized and I will be ready to collect data on friday!
