The Santa Clara River is the largest and last natural, unchanneled, free flowing river in Southern California. The river has been the focus of much study and conservation effort. Since the acquisition of an Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) grant in 2023 CPP faculty and students have been studying ways that growers in the region can use native plants and animal species to reduce the need for pesticides.
Building on that work, Biological Sciences Department Chair Erin Questad has acquired a grant from NASA to develop the Spatial Applied Conservation and Earth Science (SPACES) Institute. CPP is partnering with UC Santa Barbara and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR).
“We’ll take a look at how natural vegetation and restoration might support wildlife across different parcels. We’ll use remote sensing to cover a larger area and look at sites in detail. We’ll then be able to make recommendations on conservation and management,” Questad said.
The CPP team will include principal investigator (PI) Questad whose expertise is in restoration, Associate Professor Scordato who is the PI on the 2023 ARI grant, and Assistant Professor Blakey who will oversee curriculum activities and mentoring of two graduate students and up to 10 undergrads.
The ARI-funded work showed that planting hedgerows near citrus and avocado orchards could attract desirable predators that will eat insects that are a threat to agriculture. That was done on specific sites. This grant will allow data gathering and GIS mapping that will increase understanding of the whole region. The plan is to use three types of data to get an accurate picture of the biodiversity in the region and understand plant functional traits and the environmental services the plants provide.
Satellite data from NASA will be used, in combination with CPP field observations, and data acquisition through drone mounted Hyperspectral and LiDAR sensors. The drones were acquired as part of an Air Force Research Lab remote sensing initiative. LiDAR will give researchers a 3D model of the vegetation canopy. The Hyperspectral sensor will provide about 200 different bands, allowing researchers to know the chemical makeup of the plants.
“When students collect data from the field, they’ll sample plant traits such as leaf size, nutrients, water, chlorophyl, and nitrogen content. Combining and comparing that data with the remote sensing, we’ll be able to develop a model,” Questad said. They’re interested in native species with traits that support agriculture as well as wildlife biodiversity.
Emily Montes is one of the graduate students who will assist in training the undergraduates, a valuable “become by doing” experience for the future college professor. “I’ll also support the project’s outreach component with the Nature Nexus Institute to help engage high school and community college students in hands-on research opportunities,” Montes said.
Montes has an excellent background for this project that includes wetland benthic invertebrate community analysis. “Currently, in my master’s research, I’m looking at how temperature and vegetation structure affect insects in agricultural and riparian landscapes. With my thesis, I have collected drone LiDAR data and worked with satellite imagery to look at large-scale temperature changes.”
“With this project I will learn more about hyperspectral imagery and explore how species traits and landscape structure can connect to biodiversity and ecosystem function in complex agricultural systems,” Montes said.
Questad said, “In terms of wildlife, we think biodiversity is important overall and since agriculture is the number one reason for habitat loss, the understanding we’ll gain from this research will help us reduce the negative effects while also reducing harmful pests in agriculture.”
