Celebrating Jasper Ridge’s legacy and vision in the 50th anniversary symposium

On April 15, 2024, speakers from across fields, departments, and career trajectories were invited to share how their experiences of research, education, or stewardship at Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve (‘Ootchamin ‘Ooyakma) have shaped their view of the future of the preserve. Weeks after our spring celebration of the 50th anniversary of the preserve, community members continue to reflect on the symposium.

Humans as part of nature

The symposium started with a land acknowledgement with respect to the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, the original caretakers of the land, by Faculty Director Tad Fukami. This was a reminder to acknowledge the history of stewardship and the contemporary importance of Indigenous science at the preserve. It unfolded a common thread throughout the symposium: the interwoven relationship humans have with our environment.

Dr. Laura Jones discussed how colonial perspectives drive anthropogenic uses of land, in which plants, animals, water, and soil, were merely seen as resources. Over time and through scientific inquiry, we have learned about the negative effects of this view. Having emphasized this difficulty, she also mentioned that Jasper Ridge was characterized by the "most generous intellectual community" she had been part of. She ended by saying that this gave her great hope for the future of Jasper Ridge. Dr. David Freyberg reviewed the history and impacts of the Searsville dam, which drastically modified the surrounding area and its inhabitants.This serves as a reminder to consider the long-term influence of disturbance, small or large, as there may be unexpected consequences.

Esak Ordonez, an Amah Mutsun Tribal Band member, whose work at the Quiroste Valley Cultural Preserve gives much inspiration for Jasper Ridge, touched on how restoring access and the agency to Indigenous communities for leading restoration efforts can drive effective restoration practices for both land and culture. Earlier this year at JRBP, prescribed burning was applied as a fuel reduction strategy, providing opportunities for research as well as cultural and educational gatherings. Eight research projects at the prescribed burn sites were summarized by Dr. Adriana Hernandez to highlight how scientists consider the effects of burns across ecosystems and time scales. She advocated for researchers to mindfully shift their perspective from observers of the land to participants. Collectively, this session underscores the importance of developing a sense of place – a respectful and evolving relationship between self and the land.

Clockwise: Laura Jones, Adriana Hernandez, David Freyberg, Esak Ordonez, and Tad Fukami. Photo credits: Herschell Taghap, Stanford University.

Messages from plants

With rich biodiversity and as primary producers, plants lay the foundation to host other organisms. Dr. Lauren Hallett from the University of Oregon shared how observing cyclical vegetation changes in our serpentine grasslands since 1983 with Dr. Richard Hobbs along with a drastic increase in invasive grasses has driven her to support active land management like mowing and grazing.

The Global Change Experiment started in 1997 was another long-term experiment from which Dr. Nona Chiariello underscored the importance of collaborative, multi-factor, and adaptive research. An unexpected wildfire through the research plots and subsequent experimental burn resulted in several findings. First, “plant control overtook microbial regulation of respiration,” and second, “bacterial composition of the soil depended not only on whether it burned in 2011, but also whether a plot had burned in the 2003 wildfire”. 

Dr. Erin Mordecai presented on the role of pathogens in influencing interactions between organisms, from seemingly not playing a negative role in native and exotic grasses to activating parasitism in the ciliates that inhabit oak tree holes. All of these presentations explored the interplay between organisms and between organisms and their environment, driving home the message that effectively responding to climate change and invasive species requires both integrative research and active land management.

Lightning talks from postdocs and students

Similar themes were presented by graduate students and postdoctoral scholars working across trophic levels. Johannah Farner, a PhD student with the Mordecai lab, has been working at JRBP since 2015, first as an undergraduate student. She found that western treehole mosquitoes have a sweet spot at certain temperatures where they can avoid infection from parasites, which may translate to larger population sizes of mosquitoes as the climate warms. Lydia Villa, a PhD student in the Field lab, began a comparative study across fuel reduction areas to inform how different management strategies affect immediate vegetation regrowth. Dr. Amaury Payelleville, a postdoctoral researcher in the Fukami lab, has identified that soil moisture impacts the relative abundance of nematodes and fungi, and how the relative timing when organisms interact is imperative to whether nematodes, bacteria, and fungi can coexist.

Messages from animals

We learned from Dr. Deborah Gordon how long-term Argentine ant surveys led to strong predictions about the distribution of the ants. Distance to developed areas was the best predictor at Jasper Ridge and other nearby preserves, likely due to the water humans provide. Argentine ants are also affected by drought as evidenced by population decline during drought years, meanwhile the native winter ant increased their population size and spread even during drought years, which drove out Argentine ants in many areas.

Dr. Rodolfo Dirzo revealed through long-term studies on oak regeneration that animals fall within a gradient of seed disperser to seed predator, and seed placement as well as drought can determine seedling success.

These studies reflect the importance of understanding ecosystem-wide interactions, between animals and the environment, animals with other animals, and animal-plant interactions, and that the ecological roles organisms play are not clearly black and white.

The Jasper Ridge community listens in on invited speakers. Photo credit: Herschell Taghap, Stanford University.

Future of preserves

Dr. Philippe Cohen, former Executive Director of JRBP, discussed the power of field stations as centers for research, education, conservation, and outreach in wild spaces, and featured the ability of field stations to recruit historically marginalized groups through our larger community of field stations like Organization of Biological Field Stations (OBFS). Dr. Liz Hadly, former Faculty Director of the preserve, shared how effective science in the Anthropocene involves making science accessible in the field and around the world - these were examples of successfully extending the work at Jasper Ridge to a global scale, even genetic sequencing in the field. Ongoing and planned stewardship efforts were outlined by Dr. Sheena Sidhu with a focus on fire fuel reduction and the Searsville Watershed Restoration Project. When various fuel reduction treatments were considered, ecological sensitivity, access, feasibility, and safety were among the deciding factors – this project was a collective effort among JRBP researchers, community members, and staff, the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, and agencies.

The joyful and exciting event on April 15 was a clear celebration of the 50th anniversary of Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve (‘Ootchamin ‘Ooyakma). The event brought together diverse speakers to discuss the preserve’s past, present, and future through the lenses of research, education, and stewardship. Key themes emerged, such as the interconnectedness of humans and nature, featured scientific insights into ecosystem dynamics, and the need for integrated research and active land management strategies. In the end, the timely concluding panel sent out the audience with discussions on the future of field stations like JRBP, emphasizing their roles in research, education, and community engagement amidst environmental challenges. Overall, the event provided a platform for reflection on Jasper Ridge’s legacy and a vision for its continued role in environmental stewardship and scientific discovery.

Participants enjoy the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve (‘Ootchamin ‘Ooyakma) 50th anniversary symposium. Photo credits: Herschell Taghap, Stanford University.

A recording of the event is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgVvcq22Q2Q

By Adriana Hernandez