Field Trip

IUFRO Population, Evolutionary, and Ecological Genomics of Forest Trees Conference

The field trip will begin with a visit to Point Lobos State Reserve on the Pacific coast.  Point Lobos is part of the California State Parks system, the largest state park system in the United States, and is home to three endemic conifers, Monterey pine (Pinus radiata), Monterey cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa), and Gowen Cypress (Cupressus goveniana ssp. goveniana).  Monterey pine occurs in only three restricted areas along the coast of California and on two islands off the coast of Baja California, Mexico.  Monterey cypress and Gowen cypress occur at Point Lobos and in small groves on the Monterey Peninsula, about 8 km away, across Carmel Bay.  All three species have been pushed to the edge of the continent by increasing aridity since the Eocene, especially as mountain building accelerated at the close of the Miocene, making the interior West even drier.  During a one-mile hike in the Reserve, Dr. Deborah Rogers and California State Park personnel will talk about genetic diversity and management of these species, and about the threat to Monterey pine posed by the introduced disease, pitch canker.

The next stop will be Mission San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo, one of the 21 California missions established by the Franciscan friars under Padre Junipero Serra and, undoubtedly, the most famous.  The arrival of the Spanish missionaries, who brought with them European plants and animals, began the transformation of California’s vegetation, altering it forever.  Docents will talk about the Franciscans and the history of the mission.

Upon leaving the mission, the bus proceeds south down the Big Sur Coast, still largely undeveloped, though once home to many literary figures and artists, such as Henry Miller, Robinson Jeffers, and Hunter Thompson.  We will stop at the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park for a box lunch.  The stop will be an opportunity to see redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), oaks (Quercus spp.), sycamores (Platanus racemosa), cottonwoods (Populus fremontii), maples (Acer macrophyllum), alders (Alnus rhombifolia).  The mountains rise out of the Pacific Ocean along the Big Sur, providing the last habitat for many endemics that were once members of the widespread, mesic, Arcto-Tertiary flora.  Thomas Ledig will talk about the genetic structure of two of these endemics, Santa Lucia fir (Abies bracteata) and Coulter pine (Pinus coulteri).

The field trip continues north through Monterey to Salinas, at the head of an agricultural valley that produces $3 billion of produce each year.  Salinas was the home of John Steinbeck.  We will spend an hour at the National Steinbeck Center.  The Center presents a look at Steinbeck’s life and work (e.g., The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, Tortilla Flat, Of Mice and Men) through interactive displays and movie clips.

We will return to Asilomar for dinner.