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FIELD TRIP TO SEPULVEDA BASIN
THE INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE, PULLED FROM THE OFFICIAL SEPULVEDA BASIN WILDLIFE
REFUGE WEBSITE, IS DESIGNED TO GIVE YOU A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE AREA AND
WHAT POLICIES GOVERN THE RUNNING OF THE SEPULVEDA BASIN REFUGE.
WHY HERE?
The Los Angeles River drains the vast watershed of the San Fernando Valley and surrounding mountains--finally emptying into
the Pacific Ocean at Long Beach. In years of heavy rainfall, this normally tame watercourse becomes a mighty force--as was the
case in 1938 when torrential rains caused the river to flood adjacent farms and homes. Consequently, the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers channelized the river and built the Sepulveda Dam to capture and hold floodwaters for later gradual release down the
river. Except for infrequent but dramatic flood episodes, this otherwise dry-land flood control basin, most of which is leased from
the Corps by the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation & Parks, plays host to diverse uses today including athletic
fields, agriculture, golf courses, a fishing lake, parklands, a sewage treatment facility, AND A GROWING WILDLIFE RESERVE.
GOING NATIVE
Forward-thinking citizens and government planners hatched the idea for a designated wildlife reserve in the 60s and 70s when
much of the basin was open land or in agriculture and becoming surrounded by suburban growth. With so much land being
developed for urban and recreational uses, some saw it critical to reserve lands in the lowest flood-prone basin areas and "recreate" a natural habitat for birds and small animals with native vegetation where people would be welcome as visitors.
THE WILDLIFE AREA TODAY
The present-day wildlife reserve is a product of several phases of development. The first effort in 1979 established the 48-acre
riparian area south of Burbank Blvd. between the dam and The Los Angeles River. Formal establishment of the 60-acre habitat
north of Burbank Blvd. between the dam and Haskell Creek in 1988 involved grading for the wildlife lake and extensive plantings
of native annuals, shrubs, and trees. Pathways were created for educational and enjoyment purposes. The lake became filled
with reclaimed water from the nearby Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in 1992.
The latest and most extensive addition to the area is the 1998 expansion project funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
adding an educational staging area and amphitheatre, various pathway/signage/viewing area improvements, new pedestrian
bridges over and a reconfiguration and revegetation of Haskell Creek, additional native plantings, and the formal inclusion of 60
additional acres west of Haskell Creek to Woodley Ave.
The resulting 225-acre Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve today is one of the finest refuges of its kind within a major urban area
in the country. It serves not only as a restored natural habitat for wildlife but as a living laboratory for all to enjoy.
ANIMALS FOUND AT THE RESERVE
There is not a diverse population of non-flying animals. When the Reserve was converted from agriculture, one area at a time,
initially there were no animals except for birds and some lizards that were already living on the rocky dam interior face. It is likely
that common Valley mammals such as coyote, opossum, ground squirrels, cottontail rabbits, rats, feral cats and maybe raccoons
are present in the Reserve. Gopher snakes have been seen, and one or two rattlesnakes have been reported. Bullfrogs can be
heard in the Wildlife Lake, treefrogs are found by the pothole pond, and one environmental document listed the California redlegged frog. There has never been a census of insects, but after over twenty years there are a variety of beetles, true bugs,
grasshoppers, praying mantids, butterflies, bees, wasps, dragonflies, damselflies and other insects
TAKE GOOD NOTES BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE FIELD TRIP I
WILL GIVE EACH STUDENT A WORKSHEET THAT THEY MUST
FILL OUT (ALONE). THE ONLY SOURCE OF INFORMATION YOU
MAY USE ARE THE NOTES YOU TAKE DURING THE TRIP.
This handout is designed for my field lecture. The purpose of the field trip is to enhance both the concepts
of Levels of Complexity _________________________________________________ and the field of
Ecology [defined as ______________________________________________________ which includes
both __________ (non-living) and _________ (living) factors]. Ecology can be studied at different levels
- species, population, community, ecosystem and biome. This trip is designed to help reinforce your
knowledge from the Ecology lectures. Material on this trip will be on the final – make sure to take notes so
that you can study (i.e. organisms observed, explanations given, etc.).
PART 1: IN THE SPACE BELOW DEFINE EACH OF THE FOLLOWING TERMS
Species
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Population
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Community _______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Ecosystem
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Biome
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Organisms have developed different adaptations (define) _____________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
During the first portion of the trip we will look at three different plant species. Use the information that I
give in the field to fill-in the table below.
SPECIES 1
SPECIES 2
SPECIES 3
COMMON
NAME
ANGIOSPERM
OR
GYMNOSPERM
DIAGRAM OF
THE LEAF
VENATION
SIMPLE,
COMPOUND
OR NEEDLE
DISCUSS
ADAPTATIONS
Simple leaf
Pinnate venation.
Simple leaf
Palmate venation
Compound leaf (venation not drawn)
PART 2: IN THE SPACE BELOW DEFINE THE TERM NICHE.
Niche
_______________________________________________________________
Using the pictures that you printed out and brought to the trip, select three different organisms viewed
during the trip and list one adaptation and its possible benefit, for each of those organisms.
ORGANISM NAME
ADAPTATION
BENEFITS
INTERRELATED AND INTERDEPENDENT
In class we discussed the two things that cause every organism to be interrelated and interdependent: raw
materials and energy. Raw materials cycle within a system while energy moves through the system in the
form of food.
Some examples of raw materials are carbon, water, nitrogen and phosphorus. The flow chart below shows
a simplified water cycle. (Based on a diagram in: Cunningham, W.P. and Cunningham, M.A., Principles of
Environmental Science: Inquiry and Applications. McGraw-Hill, New York. 2002. Pg 222).
Water vapor (volcanoes) forms clouds.
Clouds form which drop rain over
the land and water bodies.
Snow melts
Runoff and rain infiltrate
Into groundwater.
rain
goundwater
Water from areas like the oceans and lakes evaporate and condense.
Water flows into ocean.
Energy (define ________________________________________________) flows through a system as
food in a food chain/web. A food chain is defined as a series of linked feeding levels (trophic levels).
At the lowest level we have producers. Producers capture energy from the sun and convert the sun’s energy
into chemical energy. By what process does this occur? ___________________ What main pigment
would be used?_______________________
PART 3: DEFINE EACH OF THE FOLLOWING TERMS.
Producer
_______________________________________________________________
Autotroph
_______________________________________________________________
Consumer
_______________________________________________________________
Heterotroph _______________________________________________________________
Herbivore
_______________________________________________________________
Carnivore
_______________________________________________________________
Omnivore
_______________________________________________________________
Scientists use ecological pyramids to visually illustrate the amount of biomass supported at each level
(called trophic levels). Each trophic level is set in the pyramid based on how they acquire food, with
organisms using the sun to produce food being at the bottom of the pyramid. Not all of the energy in lower
levels can be used to support higher levels; therefore, we find fewer numbers of organisms at the higher
levels. Movement of energy depends on both the:
1st Law of Thermodynamics ____________________________________________________________
2nd Law of Thermodynamics ____________________________________________________________
About how much energy is lost from one level to the next? _________
Each level is called a trophic level and made up of categories of organisms.
Trophic level 1 is made up of _____________________________________________
Trophic level 2 is made up of _____________________________________________
Trophic level 3 is made up of _____________________________________________
Trophic level 4 is made up of _____________________________________________
PART 4: FILL IN THE TABLE BELOW. IDENTIFY WHETHER THE ORGANISM
FOUND AT THAT LEVEL IS AN AUTOTROPH OR A HETEROTROPH.
TROPHIC LEVEL
AUTOTROPH OR HETEROTROPH
PART 5: USE THE PICTURES THAT YOU BROUGHT, THE INFORMATION GIVEN
DURING THE TRIP, AND YOUR OWN OBSERVATIONS TO IDENTIFY A POSSIBLE FOOD
CHAIN. YOUR FOOD CHAIN NEEDS TO HAVE 4 ORGANISMS (PLACE THE NAME OF THE
ORGANISM IN THE BOX). DRAW WHERE ENERGY ENTERS THE FOOD CHAIN.
primary producer
primary consumer
secondary consumer
top consumer
Ecosystems are made up of both interacting organisms and the physical environment. There are many
different ways in which organisms can interact. Some of those interactions are indicated below.
PART 6: DEFINE EACH OF THE INTERSPECIFIC INTERACTIONS BELOW.
Predation _______________________________________________________________________
Competition _____________________________________________________________________
Intraspecific __________________________________________
Interspecific __________________________________________
Symbiosis _______________________________________________________________________
Commensalism __________________________________________
Mutualism _____________________________________________
Parasitism __________________________________________
PART 7: DESCRIBE ONE SPECIES INTERACTION YOU CAN OBSERVE.
The abiotic factors of an ecosystem are extremely important. Abiotic factors include environmental
conditions like energy, matter, temperature, humidity, moisture, wind, space and light. For each physical
property an organism has a tolerance limit – the maximum and/or minimum level in which the organism
can still survive. When conditions move outside the tolerance limit the organism can not survive.
Outside the limit
Outside the limit
Lower limit
List 3 animals seen on the trip. Next to each
identify one behavior you noticed.
ANIMAL
BEHAVIOR
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Upper limit
List 3 plants seen on the trip. Next to each
describe the general surroundings.
PLANT
SURROUNDING