UC's Natural Reserve System (Video)

The University of California's White Mountain Research Station provides science unprecedented access to unique environments where life exists at the edge of extremes. This award- winning documentary weaves a story of how this unique access is yielding an understanding of change, from physiology to climate, from the oldest known living organism, to a short-lived beetle, and what this understanding means for all. Series: "UC Natural Reserve System" [Science] [Show ID: 6420]

One of the best remaining examples of a coastal-strand environment in Southern California, the University of California Natural Reserve System's (NRS) Coal Oil Point Reserve protects a wide variety of coastal and estuarine habitats. Thousands of migratory birds visit throughout the year. Located adjacent to the UC Santa Barbara campus, the reserve provides a unique and accessible research and teaching resource, which is used by many university courses, including botany, ecology, biodiversity field methods, natural history, marine biology, invertebrate zoology, and environmental studies. Series: "UC Natural Reserve System" [Science] [Agriculture] [Show ID: 8386]

At the University of California Natural Reserve System's (NRS) Sedgwick Reserve near Santa Barbara, UC researchers are delving deep into the earth to understand the microorganisms that support California's ecosystems and are working to preserve the state's disappearing oak woodlands and restore native grasslands. Local schoolchildren also visit the reserve as part of an innovative "Kids in Nature" science program. Series: "UC Natural Reserve System" [Science] [Agriculture] [Show ID: 8385]

Located in Southern California's San Jacinto Mountains, the Natural Reserve System's (NRS) James Reserve is at the forefront of an effort to use high technology to gain insight into the natural world. Embedded cameras monitor the nesting cycles of birds, sensor networks track weather data on habitat microclimates, and computers map out the potential damage from wildfires. Series: "UC Natural Reserve System" [Science] [Agriculture] [Show ID: 8384]

Situated on California's scenic Big Sur Coast, the Natural Reserve System's (NRS) Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve provides researchers and students with a spectacular location to study nature. Scientists use the reserve to track water quality, monitor fish populations, and survey California's disappearing native wildflowers. Students from UC Santa Cruz use the off-shore marine reserve to test their underwater research skills, and grade school students visit Big Creek to learn how animals adapt to their environment. Series: "UC Natural Reserve System" [Science] [Agriculture] [Show ID: 8383]

Go behind the scenes at the Hastings Reserve to examine the social structure of acorn woodpeckers and western bluebirds and take a look at the restoration of California's native grasslands. The Hastings Reserve, the University of California Natural Reserve System's (NRS) Biological Field Station in the Santa Lucia mountain range in Monterey, was set aside in 1937 to be managed with minimal disturbance providing researchers an important ecosystem for study. Series: "UC Natural Reserve System" [Science] [Agriculture] [Show ID: 8312]