UC Santa Cruz is involved in all the core research projects that characterize PISCO and has taken a lead role in some aspects of the program. Our research focuses on the central California region, primarily the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Nearshore Oceanography

The central California region is characterized by three major oceanographic regions with differences in the strength and productivity of their upwelling regimes. North of Monterey Bay, strong nutrient-rich upwelling occurs across a broad continental shelf, resulting in highly productive water that is rapidly transported offshore. South of Monterey Bay along the Monterey Peninsula, upwelling is less pronounced, resulting in more moderate increases in productivity. In contrast, further south along the Big Sur coast, upwelling is strong but the narrow shelf creates conditions of lower nutrients and productivity. Our oceanographic studies are focused on understanding the consequences of these different regimes on rocky shore and kelp forest community dynamics.

Oceanographic instruments are deployed at five core sites along the coast of central California. Two sites are located within the region north of Monterey Bay (Sandhill Bluff and Terrace Point). Two sites are located along the Monterey Peninsula (Hopkins Marine Station and Stillwater Cove). One additional site is located at Andrew Molera State Park just south of Point Sur. These instruments, moored in 21 meters of water, provide continuous measurements of current and temperature profiles. The current meters tell us whether water is moving onshore or offshore and for how long each of the transport phases lasts. The temperature profiles provide an indicator of upwelling. Upwelled water is colder than surface water. In addition, we collect monthly measurements of salinity, temperature, and phytoplankton at 17 stations on the 21 meter isobath along the central coast using a CTD. This provides a monthly snapshot of oceanographic conditions -- in particular, primary productivity -- over a wider spatial scale.

Shoreline Research

Recruitment, Population Replenishment and Community Interactions The range of different oceanographic conditions within the PISCO-UCSC region allows us to carry out unique research into the influence of nearshore oceanography on rocky shore and kelp forest communities. Physical processes may govern the onshore transport of larvae and hence rate of replenishment of reef populations, whereas biotic processes such as productivity levels may govern growth rates and survivorship of larvae.

Shoreline measures of larval recruitment to populations of algae, invertebrates and fishes allow us to link patterns of population replenishment with nearshore larval supply and oceanographic conditions. We monitor mussel and barnacle recruitment and population dynamics at 12 rocky shore sites from Pigeon Point, north of Monterey Bay, to Mill Creek along the Big Sur coast. We monitor recruitment and population dynamics of giant kelp, Pterygophora, sea urchins, and rockfish at 12 sites; our five core sites with oceanographic equipment plus seven additional sites. Our sites are strategially placed inside and adjacent to existing marine reserves at Hopkins Marine Station, Point Lobos and Big Creek.

In combination, these ecological and nearshore oceanographic information sources allow us to understand how coastal currents influence species interactions and the species composition and dynamics of rocky shore and kelp forest communities.

Studies within Marine Reserves

There are three no-take marine reserves within the central California region: Hopkins Marine Life Refuge, Point Lobos State Reserve and Big Creek Ecological Reserve. These reserves provide us with an opportunity to examine the consequences of protection on reef fish populations and shallow rocky reef ecosystems. We have established long-term sampling sites within and adjacent to each of these reserves. We will explore relationships between reserves, patterns of larval production and transport, and the genetic structure of populations. Much of this work is conducted in close collaboration with PISCO-UCSB.

Marine Population Genetics

PISCO-UCSC is working closely with our partner institutions to study the physical and ecological processes that create and maintain genetic structure in populations of rocky shore invertebrates and fishes, along with kelp forest fishes, invertebrates and macroalgae. At present, we are focusing on two model species of nearshore rockfishes, the blue and kelp rockfish, in collaboration with Dr. Giacomo Bernardi, a PISCO senior fellow. We are also examining the genetic structure of California sea mussel populations at biogeographic scales in collaboration with senior fellow Dr. Grant Pogson.

Educational Opportunities

Educational opportunities at UC Santa Cruz generally parallel those at the other consortium campuses. Training and education involves an integration of PISCO research (both the process and the findings), associated independent student research, and relevant curricula. The first of seven components includes undergraduate volunteers. This is a sizeable program involving approximately 50 undergraduate volunteers each year that participate in fieldwork, laboratory processing and analysis of samples and data management. Based on evaluation of their participation in this program and their academic performance, a few undergraduates are hired each year as undergraduate research interns. As the second component of the education program, these interns may work work part-time during the academic year and full-time during the summer months. Participation usually involves increasing responsibilities extending from their volunteer participation. These responsibilities often involve associated individual research projects, many of which result in undergraduate senior theses.

The next two components are directed at graduate student training and education. The core of the graduate training program includes support of graduate student researchers (GSR) directly associated with the PISCO research program. These students are partially funded to participate in various aspects of the overall research effort and, in addition, develop masters and doctoral research topics that address questions of interest to the overall PISCO program. Both aspects of their involvement are fundamental to the success of PISCO at UCSC. A second aspect of graduate training is the PISCO Graduate Student Conservation Science Fund. This fund, generated from overhead returned by UCSC, supports graduate research on coastal conservation science topics that has not been identified as goals of the PISCO program. To date, this program has funded one student.

The fifth component of the training program involves post-doctoral researchers. The four post-doctoral researchers that have been supported by PISCO-UCSC participate as directors of various components of the consortium-wide program, leads on UCSC led research projects, undergraduate and graduate student mentors, and contribute to teaching PISCO relevant curricula.

The sixth component is the integration of PISCO with undergraduate and graduate courses that train students in marine ecology and conservation science at UCSC. These courses include Marine Ecology (160), Marine Ecology Field Studies (160-L), Conservation in the Sea (80-M), Kelp Forest Ecology (161 and 161-L), Marine Ecology Field Quarter (162: a 3 course field quarter), and Graduate Seminars in Basic and Applied Marine Ecology (280-A). An overview of each of these courses is available at our UCSC laboratory Web page.

These lecture courses are designed to teach the conceptual basis of marine ecology and conservation science, while the lab courses train students in the taxonomy of marine organisms and field methods for conducting monitoring and experimental studies in intertidal and subtidal ecosystems.

The seventh component highlights the continued training and education received by PISCO technicians. These are usually full-time post-graduate technicians with bachelors or masters degrees that are trained in the various methods and approaches used by PISCO to conduct ecological and oceanographic studies of the intertidal, subtidal and coastal ocean environment. These are skills that will enhance their technical and professional careers during and subsequent to their employment with PISCO.

Who We Are

Principal Investigators
As principal investigators, Drs. Pete Raimondi and Mark Carr lead the scientific and intellectual development of PISCO UCSC's research and policy programs. In 2004 Margaret McManus moved from being a research fellow with PISCO to a principal investigator.

Research Fellows
Research Fellows are established scientists who collaborate on PISCO research. Current fellows affiliated with UCSC and their areas of expertise are: Giacomo Bernardi, population genetics of marine fishes, Grant Pogson, population genetics of marine fishes and invertebrates.

Policy and Outreach Coordinator
Lydia Bergen works with PISCO scienctists to disseminate and communicate our findings to other scientists, resource managers, conservation organizations, decision-makers, industry groups, and the interested public.

Information Manager
Rex Core is working together with Chris Jones at UCSB to develop a data management system for the PISCO consortium.

Postdoctoral Researchers
Craig Syms directs PISCO-UCSC's kelp forest studies with Mark Carr. Dave Lohse directs PISCO-UCSC's rocky intertidal studies with Peter Raimondi.

Project Assistant
Kathleen Donahue provides accounting and administrative support to PISCO-UCSC.

Graduate Students
Graduate students design and execute their own research projects. Each of these diverse projects contributes knowledge to PISCO's interdisciplinary research program.

• Rachel Barnett-Johnson: Identifying the relative contribution of different spawning tributaries and hatchery vs. naturally spawned salmon to coastal adult salmon populations along central California.
• Kristan Blackhart: The relationship between physical oceanographic events such as upwelling/relaxation and internal waves and the recruitment of subtidal fishes.
• Martha Burford: Charaterizing the effect of larval duration on the genetic structure of adult populations and among settling juveniles of two species of rockfish to analyze whether the juveniles from two different year-classes have the same degree of genetic continuity.
• Morgan Bond
• Tish Conway-Cranos
• Jonna Engel: The relative importance of genetic drift, gene flow and natural selection in determining population genetic structure of the California sea mussel, Mytilus californianus.
• Jared Figurski
• Melissa Foley: Effects of terrestrial-based nutrients on kelp forest communities.
• Jan Freiwald: Understanding movements of coastal rockfish using acoustic telemetry.
• Cynthia Hays: Using the intertidal brown algae silvetia compressa to study the role of gene flow and local adaptation at the edge of a species distribution.
• Dawn Jech: Predator-prey interactions of an intertidal star (Pisaster ochraceus) and the California Mussel (Mytilus californianus).
• Darren Johnson: The role of predation and other factors that influence post-settlement survival of juvenile rockfish in kelp beds.
• Jennifer O'leary
• Brian Ort: Factors determining effective population size of male and female California sea mussel, Mytilus californianus, using mitochondrial DNA.
• Mark Readdie: The role of ecological succession in the dynamics of intertidal species boundaries.
• Amy Ritter: Role of primary productivity and habitat variables in structuring intertidal fish populations and communities.

Research Technicians
Research technicians carry out PISCO-UCSC's field and laboratory studies, including monitoring, sample processing, and data management.

PISCO Core-sites Technicians

• Hilary Hayford: Rocky shore ecology studies - laboratory manager.
• Maya George: Rocky shore ecology studies - field manager.
• Erin Maloney: Rocky shore ecology studies - field manager.
• Jamie Grover: Nearshore oceanographic and kelp forest ecology studies.
• Randolph Skrovan: Nearshore oceanographic and kelp forest ecology studies.

Coastal Biodiversity Survey Team

• Caroline Engel: Comprehensive rocky intertidal surveys.
• Kristen Kusic: Comprehensive rocky intertidal surveys.
• Haven Livingston: Comprehensive rocky intertidal surveys.

Part-time Coastal Biodiversity Survey Team Members

• Allison Kendall: Comprehensive rocky intertidal surveys.
• Megan Williams: Comprehensive rocky intertidal surveys.

Community Structure Intertidal Survey Team

• Melissa Wilson: Rocky shore ecology studies.
• Christy Roe: Rocky Rocky shore ecology studies.

Paid Undergraduate Interns

• Carolina DaCosta: Rocky shore ecology studies.
• Katie Nichols: Rocky shore ecology studies.
• Selena McMillan: Kelp forest ecology and oceanographic studies.
• Cassandra Reyes-Jones: Rocky shore ecology studies.
• Jenni Stoutamore: Rocky shore ecology studies.
• Sara Worden: Rocky shore ecology studies.