SJSU Biology
Students Survey Future State Park Land
"The Scientist", Spring 2002, Vol. 8 No. 1.
Last Spring semester, 14 students from the Biology Department's Redwood Forest Ecology
course conducted an extensive biological survey of a recovering redwood forest in
the tSanta Cruz Mountains. Currently owned by the Sempervirens Fund (a Los Altos
based redwood forest conservancy),
this 1340-acre parcel called the San Lorenzo
River Redwoods is scheduled for sale to the California Department of Parks and Recreation
over the next few years as an addition to Castle Rock State Park. This will effectively
increase the area of the park by 50%, protect valuable wildlife habitat, and provide
miles of publicly accessible, scenic hiking trails.
Prof. Chris Brinegar, a redwood biologist and the course instructor, arranged for
the class project through Brian Steen, the Executive Director of the Sempervirens
Fund, who had requested assistance from area ecologists to study the forest so that
as much scientific information as possible would be available upon transfer to the
State. Much of the property was clear-cut in the late 1800s and is now dominated
by secondgrowth redwoods. The upper San Lorenzo River, habitat to threatened steelhead
trout, runs through the property and was the focal point of the study along with
the dense forest on its banks.
The survey was designed and carried out by the students, who collectively spent
over 250 hours in the field between March and May conducting measurements and observations
on stream habitat, canopy cover, plant and animal species, and tree sizes and distributions.
National Geographic Holdings (San Francisco) generously donated copies of TOPO!
topographical software, allowing the results of the survey to be accurately mapped
with the aid of hand-held global positioning system (GPS) units. From approximately
300 sampling sites over 1000 redwoods and Douglas firs were measured, 93 species
of plants and 51 species of animals were identified, and steelhead nesting and feeding
sites were characterized throughout the 2.5 km length of the river that runs through
the property.
In November, Prof. Brinegar gave a summary of the project to the Sempervirens Board
of Directors along with a 40-page report of the detailed findings. A cop of the
report was also made available to a representative in the acquisitions division
of the California Department of Parks and Recreation. The final transaction cannot
occur until the Sempervirens Fund fundraising campaign is complete and more State
funds are earmarked for the purchase, but hopefully the information provided by
the Redwood Forest Ecology students will convince the State of the ecological importance
of the San Lorenzo River Redwoods so that it will be given a higher priority on
the list of over 300 potential parcels now being considered for acquisition.
Dr. Chris Brinegar and a team of students from his Redwood Forestry Ecology class
conduct measurements and observations at the San Lorenzo River Redwoods forest.
Article originally published in the College of Science "The Scientist", Spring 2002,
Vol. 8 No. 1.