The Santa Barbara Channel area extends from the steep Santa Ynez Mountains on the north to the Channel Islands and adjacent continental shelf on the south and from Point Conception east to the Hueneme submarine canyon. This dynamic landscape, characterized by diverse ecosystems and both urban and rural populations, faces increasing environmental stress due to development, climate change, and natural hazards. The USGS has a long history of work in this area, providing information on a range of coastal-zone-management issues to local, State, and Federal stakeholders.
USGS Western Ecological Research Center's lead scientist, Kevin Lafferty and collaborators from the University of California, Santa Barbara conduct research in community ecology and parasite ecology. The Santa Barbara field station has a cooperative agreement with the University of California, Santa Barbara. The linkage with the university provides opportunities to supervise graduate students in marine ecology and work in laboratories with flow-through seawater to allow housing temperate marine species.
Scientists are involved in the conservation of marine resources and investigating strategies for protecting endangered shorebirds, fish, and abalone. Examples of research in marine ecology are restoration strategies for the nearly extirpated white abalone, patterns of disturbance for threatened western snowy plovers, marine reserve design, kelp forest community dynamics, predicting the potential effects of wave energy absorption from marine renewable energy facilities on nearshore ecosystems, food webs that incorporate complex interactions, and coral reef monitoring at Palmyra Atoll.
Explore specific projects conducted at the Santa Barbara Field Station:
Ecology of Infectious Diseases
Ecology of California's Sandy Beaches
Palmyra National Wildlife Refuge Ecology
Kelp Forest Community Ecology
- Overview
The Santa Barbara Channel area extends from the steep Santa Ynez Mountains on the north to the Channel Islands and adjacent continental shelf on the south and from Point Conception east to the Hueneme submarine canyon. This dynamic landscape, characterized by diverse ecosystems and both urban and rural populations, faces increasing environmental stress due to development, climate change, and natural hazards. The USGS has a long history of work in this area, providing information on a range of coastal-zone-management issues to local, State, and Federal stakeholders.
A photo of a diver installing a pressure sensor, which will help detect wave energy at specific nearshore sites. USGS Western Ecological Research Center's lead scientist, Kevin Lafferty and collaborators from the University of California, Santa Barbara conduct research in community ecology and parasite ecology. The Santa Barbara field station has a cooperative agreement with the University of California, Santa Barbara. The linkage with the university provides opportunities to supervise graduate students in marine ecology and work in laboratories with flow-through seawater to allow housing temperate marine species.
Scientists are involved in the conservation of marine resources and investigating strategies for protecting endangered shorebirds, fish, and abalone. Examples of research in marine ecology are restoration strategies for the nearly extirpated white abalone, patterns of disturbance for threatened western snowy plovers, marine reserve design, kelp forest community dynamics, predicting the potential effects of wave energy absorption from marine renewable energy facilities on nearshore ecosystems, food webs that incorporate complex interactions, and coral reef monitoring at Palmyra Atoll.
- Science
Explore specific projects conducted at the Santa Barbara Field Station:
Ecology of Infectious Diseases
The public is most familiar with parasites' role in spreading infectious diseases to people and domestic animals. In tropical developing countries, malaria, schistosomiasis, and other infectious diseases cause significant human suffering. While most related studies focus on treating patients, Dr. Kevin Lafferty is studying how ecology of the local environment affects transmission of infectious...Ecology of California's Sandy Beaches
WERC's Dr. Kevin Lafferty studies the food webs of California's sandy beaches, which support a network of wildlife from predators to prey. Species that depend on this habitat include the endangered western snowy plover.Palmyra National Wildlife Refuge Ecology
Palmyra Atoll is a low-lying coral atoll and National Wildlife Refuge located south/southwest of Hawaii near the equator in the central Pacific Ocean. USGS is a member of the Palmyra Atoll Research Consortium, which fosters collaborative multi- and inter-disciplinary studies by U.S. Department of the Interior agencies (USGS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), academic institutions, and non...Kelp Forest Community Ecology
The near shore waters along the coast of southern California host one of the most productive marine ecosystems on earth: giant kelp forests. These complex environments provide habitat, food, and hiding places for more than 1,000 species of plants and animals, but are easily disturbed by both natural events and human activities. Strong storms, fluctuating water temperatures, coastal development...