Following relaxations prevailing equatorward winds, warm water from the Santa Barbara Channel flows poleward around Point Conception and along the central California coast. Sequences of satellite sea surface temperature images show the events as bands of warm water extending up to 20 km offshore. Characteristics of these flows were examined using time series of currents and temperature from an array of moorings along the inner shelf (15 m depth), a mooring on the mid-shelf (100 m depth), and surface current observations from high frequency radars.

The MIRADA project was launched in the fall of 2007 to establish a Microbial Biodiversity Survey and Inventory across all 13 of the major aquatic (marine and freshwater) Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites in the NSF US LTER Program. The long-term objective of our study is to document and describe baseline diversity and relative abundance data for both common and rare members of microbial communities and to relate this diversity to the underlying physical and chemical environment.

Humans make decisions daily that impact biodiversity, and it is essential that citizens understand the implications of these decisions. Yet, ecological systems are extremely complex, with many details still being discovered. Our challenge is to identify the underlying principles and concepts governing the distribution of organisms, and then communicate these details to students in a way that influences their citizenship decisions as participants in local and global communities. 

 SBC’s Schoolyard LTER (SLTER) program is organized around a theme of watershed ecology. This approach allows for an integrated program that includes K-12 students, K-12 teachers, undergraduate and graduate students.  In 2009 we focused on developing long-term connections with local, regional and state middle and junior high schools through a partnership with American Association of University Women (AAUW) - Tech Trek Program.

Macroalgae and phytoplankton support highly productive coastal marine ecosystems. Research based on stable isotope analyses has supported the idea that macroalgal detritus, especially that of giant kelp Macrocystis, is a major source of dietary carbon to benthic suspension feeders.

Dispersal ability can affect the dynamics and composition of intertidal communities. Sandy beach ecosystems, where several key taxa have limited dispersal, are increasingly impacted by growing coastal development, and human use, while facing additional habitat loss and fragmentation from sea level rise. Implications of low dispersal rates for populations of key beach taxa, such as talitrid amphipods, include susceptibility to local extinctions and potentially lengthy recolonization times relative to lifespans/generation times.

 Phytoplankton production in the Santa Barbara Channel supports one of the richest marine ecosystems in the Southern California Bight. The climatology of chlorophyll biomass in the area reveals maxima over the Santa Barbara Basin in the western Channel and along the mainland in the eastern channel where the continental shelf broadens and where two rivers discharge seasonally.

 The productivity of giant kelp forests is highly variable across time and space. Winter storms and summer periods of nutrient limitation act as bottom-up regulators of kelp abundance and growth in a geography-dependent manner. Our goal is to develop a predictive understanding of giant kelp forest dynamics in the nearshore waters of California using a combination of (i) bio-optical modeling of kelp productivity, (ii) high-resolution remote sensing of kelp cover, biomass and its physiological state.

The inherent dynamism of coastal environments makes documentation of change especially challenging. At the same time, the loss of historical and ecological landscapes is particularly evident in the coastal zone. The disappearance of wetlands, native vegetation and wildlife, and the alteration of natural processes have greatly affected the ecology of remaining coastal zone habitats, while the historical introduction of numerous species of plants and animals has transformed much of the open landscape.

 Seventy-four catchments, with a total area of 790 km2 (ranging from 1 to 50 km2), drain from the Santa Ynez Mountains along the northern coast of Santa Barbara Channel. The topography of these coastal catchments is characterized as mountainous headwaters and sloping coastal plains separated by transitional foothills. From west to east, there are both elevational and land use gradients. Headwater elevations increase from approximately 300 to 1400 m, and land uses on the coastal plain and foothills change from mostly rangeland to a combination of urban and agricultural lands.