Environment 11-6

Vandenberg Air Force Base’s fire service will conduct control burns on the base throughout the end of the year, it announced this week, in order to clear invasive plant species from the habitat of the western snowy plover. The operation will cover 95 to 440 acres, depending on time and weather constraints. (/burn1106)

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In honor of Veterans Day, the National Park Service announced this week that day use fees will be waived on 11/11 for all National Parks in Southern California, including Los Padres. Unfortunately, due to its concessionaire status, the lower Santa Ynez recreation area of the Los Padres, specifically the Paradise Road area, will be the only park in the state that will charge fees on that day.

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A young great white shark released from captivity from the Monterey Bay Aquarium into the Santa Barbara Channel on 9/11 has lost its tracking device. The device, which charted the shark’s movement around the Channel Islands, was recovered on the backside of San Miguel Island on 10/23. The shark is presumed to be alive and well and is expected to migrate south to warmer waters.

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Water fleas are the subject of a paper written by UCSB scientist Roger Nisbit and two Canadian co-authors, recently published in the latest issue of Nature magazine. Field observations and mathematical models of the species are allowing researchers to gain a better understanding of population dynamics in general. The researchers hope their insights will allow them to broadly predict ecological consequences of environmental changes.