Tag Archive for: dept-ESRM

This weekend(9/27/15) was a good start to collecting data. With the help of some friends I accurately surveyed four out of the five of my survey sites. I have already surveyed these points but have honed in on my techniques with greater accuracy and ease. In addition to surveying, I also took a shore line track. Since the start of school I can visually see sections of the sand start to disappear. In general, the waves this weekend were small. Needless to say, there were still some fun waves to be caught. Some thoughts for improvement on my researching would be to buy more sunscreen and bring a big umbrella(the sun was strong this weekend). I also found it to be easier to make a straight line with the transect tape by walking backwards holding the compass. Overall successful weekend of collecting data. I would like to thank Andrew Shimizu and Lauren Zahn for coming out and helping me survey. Great success!

Water Canyon Vegetation

Abstract

This capstone project will take place in Water Canyon on Santa Rosa Island. Cattle and elk heavily grazed Santa Rosa Island for 150 years having severe impacts on the vegetation. The island has been going through recovery for 3 years after the last elk was removed in 2012. This study will look at the vegetation distribution throughout the watershed, primarily focusing on the riparian habitats and terraces. Surveys will be conducted to identify species within cross sections of the stream channel. Patterns of population niches will be identified. Further research will be conducted from literature to identify why certain species inhabit certain areas.

Vegetation distribution will be examined with regards to upstream/ downstream patterns, elevation, slope, and materials within the stream channel (boulders, rocks, soils, etc.). Additionally, Invasive species will be identified and examined to see the impacts on the native species. It is anticipated that biodiversity will decrease with an increase of invasive species. The study will compare the expected vegetation in Water Canyon with literature that focuses on vegetation in stream channels and significantly impacted areas. This project will be collecting baseline data that can be used in future research projects after the island has more time to recover or after any significant natural event.

Project Mentor: Linda O’Hirok

I have begun my project by looking at areas that have recorded sightings of the unarmored threespine stickleback fish in the Santa Clarita area. The first place I checked out was a small section of the Santa Clara River. I found a small creek with water emptying into it from an unknown source. The water closest to the source looked unhealthy and had a layer of foam floating on surface. In addition, the water was brown and it was difficult to see anything in it. I walked along the creek for about 15 minutes and did not see any fish. I thought the water was now uninhabitable until I saw a few snails and frogs moving along the bottom. Hopefully I will see some fish in the next spot I check out.

This photo shows the point source of water for the creek I found. The white areas on the surface were foam and bubbles which covered most of the surface of the pool beneath this entry point.

Hello my name is Dylan Fadich

… and this is my capstone

Geomorphology of Water Canyon on Santa Rosa Island

My capstone will focus on gathering geomorphological information on Water Canyon on Santa Rosa Island. I will be taking cross sections of water canyon and studying sedimentation flow throughout the river channel. We will also be studying the erosion effects and dynamics of the stream channel in order to do this, permits must be granted to set up sediment traps in the canyon. My mentor and project overseer will be Linda O’Hirok. This Project was proposed to her by the National Park Service whose goal is to gather more data on the geomorphology of Water Canyon. My hypothesis is that there will be large scale changes to the sedimentation and erosion processes throughout the different sections of the Water Canyon stream channel. Once we are out in the field my hypothesis and aspects of my project could vary slightly.

Today Vanessa VanHeerden and I found that there are micro-plastics in some of the sand samples from the Cook islands.  We will be processing the rest of the 85 samples throughout the next month.  

On another note: Under the advisement and guidance of Dr. Clare Wormald-Steele and Dr. Sean Anderson last week I started exposing the collected sample of sand crabs to micro plastic beads to see if they would ingest them.  After 1 week the sand crabs were frozen and then dissected today.  Vanessa VanHeerden and I  found that over 80% of them had ambient fibers/plastics in their digestive tracts.  1 of the sand crabs that was exposed to micro plastic beads had 92 plastic microbeads inside of it.  These are initial findings and we plan to investigate further.