Research Trailer Acquisition for Quail Ridge Reserve

University Of California-Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Abstract

The University of California-Davis is awarded a grant to acquire a self-contained mobile laboratory for deployment at Quail Ridge Reserve, a 2000-acre unit of the University of California-Davis Natural Reserve System located in Napa County, California. The laboratory will be a three-room, general purpose facility. The large central room will house work-height countertops, desk space, a fume hood, sink and storage; two peripheral rooms will be available for use in animal holding and for behavioral trials. Lighting and climate control will be programmable; environmental conditions will be monitored by an automatic system linked to the reserve?s wireless communication network, alerting reserve staff immediately of any technical problems. The lab will be appropriate for processing, anesthetizing, tagging, holding, and conducting behavioral experiments on captured animals. A separate mobile generator unit will provide power to the laboratory, while minimizing noise inside the laboratory that could stress animals and disrupt natural behaviors. Water and waste water storage will be integrated into the unit. Quail Ridge Reserve hosts multiple active research initiatives in animal genetics and behavior, as well as in plant physiology, that will directly and immediately benefit from the facility. Other NSF-sponsored initiatives, like the Quail Ridge automated animal tracking system (for which hardware is completed and software is in refinement), will rely heavily on the laboratory as a site for tagging or harnessing animals, or for performing surgical implants of transmitters for use with the system. This unique automatic system is poised to transform understanding of small animal movements, dispersal, and response to stressors by remotely tracking their locations and physiological conditions. The new facility will promote novel uses of the existing cyber-infrastructure linking research enabled by the lab to remote portals, such as classroom and private computers via an ongoing 'virtual museum of the environment' initiative. Citizen scientists and after-school programs will be able to watch behavioral trials and eventually track the movement of animals from their computers in near real time. The lab will also be used by instructors from institutions of higher education that currently use the reserve and are largely minority-serving. On-going collaborations with international investigators and interns will benefit as well. Results from combined use of the lab facility and the animal tracking system will enhance understanding of animal movement and habitat use, thus informing habitat protection and conservation decisions.