CBC Supported Projects in 2006

From the Bryolabs at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Southern Oregon University...
ANNOUNCING: The Eleventh Annual !! **** SO BE FREE 11 **** March 25 - 28, 2006
UC Sedgwick Reserve, Santa Ynez, California
organized by Lloyd Stark, Amanda Heinrich, and Brent Mishler

Founded in 1996, SO BE FREE is a series of West Coast forays started by the Bryolab at UC Berkeley, but open to all botanists. The main focus is on bryophytes, but we also encourage experts on macroalgae, mushrooms, lichens, ferns, and flowering plants to come along. We welcome specialists as well as generalists, or amateurs who are interested in an overview. It is held each spring, associated with Spring Break at universities.

To further its mission of fostering collaborations between the Berkely Natural History Museums and the UC Field Stations the CBC offered a mini-fellowship to cover food costs for all students attending.

In 2006 CBC provided further support for the Ecological Flora of California (EFCal). This is a new component of the Jepson Flora Project that will provide ecological information on the California flora. EFCal will serve as a comprehensive database of ecological characteristics including life history, phenology, morphology and other traits for the California flora. CBC provided partial support for 2 months of salary for a post-doc to refine the database architecture and supervise the entry of data sets.

CBC is a sponsor of the California Ecological Observatory Network (CalEON) - a regional network of field sites, natural history museums, and university labs. In addition to contributing to the Caleon website CBC is sponsoring the 5th CalEON planning meeting at UC Berkeley in November 2006.

CBC Supported Projects in 2006

Botanical Foray (March 25-28 2006) From the Bryolabs at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Southern Oregon University... ANNOUNCING: The Eleventh Annual !! ** SO BE FREE 11 March 25 - 28, 2006 UC Sedgwick Reserve, Santa Ynez, California organized by Lloyd Stark, Amanda Heinrich, and Brent Mishler Founded in 1996, SO BE FREE is a series of West Coast forays started by the Bryolab at UC Berkeley, but open to all botanists. The main focus is on bryophytes, but we also encourage experts on macroalgae, mushrooms, lichens, ferns, and flowering plants to come along. We welcome specialists as well as generalists, or amateurs who are interested in an overview. It is held each spring, associated with Spring Break at universities. To further its mission of fostering collaborations between the Berkely Natural History Museums and the UC Field Stations the CBC offered a mini-fellowship to cover food costs for all students attending. Keck Hydrowatch Program (June 5-7 2006) The CBC hosted a retreat for the Keck hydrowatch program at the Angelo Coast Range Reserve. The Angelo reserve is one of two California watersheds providing real-time data on rain, air moisture, soil water content and stream flow via a wireless network and satellite uplink. The Keck HydroWatch Center builds on several research centers on campus and is one of the first multi-disciplinary projects of the new Berkeley Institute of the Environment. The retreat included faculty members, staff, postdocs and students from numerous departments including ESPM, EPS, LBL, IB, Chemistry and Computer Science. Ecological flora of California (August 2006 and ongoing) In 2006 CBC provided further support for the Ecological Flora of California (EFCal). This is a new component of the Jepson Flora Project that will provide ecological information on the California flora. EFCal will serve as a comprehensive database of ecological characteristics including life history, phenology, morphology and other traits for the California flora. CBC provided partial support for 2 months of salary for a post-doc to refine the database architecture and supervise the entry of data sets. California Ecological Observatory Network (November 2006 and ongoing) CBC is a sponsor of the California Ecological Observatory Network (CalEON) - a regional network of field sites, natural history museums, and university labs. In addition to contributing to the Caleon website CBC is sponsoring the 5th CalEON planning meeting at UC Berkeley in November 2006. Grassland Diversity at the Angelo Range Reserve (Summer 2006 and ongoing)** Berkeley postdoctoral researcher Blake Suttle has collected data on plant and invertebrate diversity at the Angelo Coast Range Reserve in Mendocino County for six consecutive years. With support from the California Biodiversity Center, he has now identified and photographed upwards of 50 plant and 200 arthropod species that reside in meadows set amidst large tracts of Douglas fir/redwood forest and mixed oak, madrone and Bay laurel woodland at the Angelo Reserve. Taxonomic listings and photographs will soon be available directly from the Reserve's website, providing visitors an easy means to visually identify numerous plants, insects, and spiders they may see while visiting the reserve.