James Reserve Facilities Improvements

University Of California-Riverside, Riverside CA

Investigators

Abstract

Documentation of environmental changes and depletion of natural resources requires networking across a diversity of facilities and ecosystems, many of them remote, to create a national infrastructure for research and training. Energy reliability is crucial to this infrastructure. The James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve is one of 39 closely connected reserves in the University of California Natural Reserve system (http://www.jamesreserve.edu/), and its location precludes use of conventional power. Nevertheless the James Reserve is committed to advancing the nation's capacity to support basic research and to sharing its resources with a diverse group of faculty, students, staff and the public. Power from solar energy fuels typical daily operations at the James Reserve. Requested funds will increase the battery bank to maximize the storage of solar energy that is harvested from existing solar panels, which will increase accessibility of the reserve. In addition to enhancing research, increased power will facilitate extended visits from classes of students. Many student visitors are from a diversity of urban, underrepresented and underserved populations in Southern California who have never had a firsthand look at winter snowpack. Understanding the connection between snowpack and drought is fundamental for scientists and citizens alike. Installation of photovoltaic batteries and a separate power system for the weather station will improve its reliability, particularly in winter months when it is currently prone to power failure. This will improve availability of meteorological data. Increasing solar power storage will permit year-round access. Other minor improvements will stabilize power to scientific equipment and communications to increase research potential and improve safety. Strengthening the infrastructure at the James Reserve will enable longitudinal projects to become established as well as advance the capacity for future research programs. The majority of new research programs at the James are focused on the effects of shifting environmental conditions. Access to the James is crucial to support a new cohort of principal investigators who collect data during winter months, the season during which California receives most of its precipitation. The James Reserve is a particularly important field site for many projects because it is the only field station located in the San Jacinto Mountains of Southern California, an ecologically important area. The San Jacinto Mountains are a relatively humid sky island surrounded by desert; they represent a unique northern and inland region of the Peninsular Mountain Ranges. The James Reserve and surrounding region are vital for further research because of its baseline abiotic and biotic data that extend back to the early 1900's.