Sheltered Spring UC Santa Cruz Campus Natural Reserve

In this installment of Sheltered Spring, I’m inviting you to West Cliff. This popular scenic drive is one of my favorite things about Santa Cruz, California and in this episode I’m walking you through a typical meditative session at my West Cliff sit spot. I share my observations and the entries from my field journal to bring the California coast to wherever our listeners find themselves. Here, we appreciate the invasive ice plant for what it is and we get to know the popular surf spots along this portion of the coast!

As we get to know West Cliff, I’m hoping to amplify the beauty of exposure to nature as therapy. It’s something we probably all need after a year of pandemic restrictions. Reimagining everything for a digital space may have become our normal, but that just means we each need to start reaching for an emotional affinity toward nature.

Music:

Pleasant Porridge by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/7614-pleasant-porridge

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Sounds:

Audio from West Cliff Drive by Naomi San Jose

Audio from Mitchell’s Cove by Naomi San Jose

Audio from Dog Beach, West Cliff by Naomi San Jose

In this episode, Emily takes you on an audio tour of her chosen sit spot at the northwestern edge of UC Santa Cruz's East Meadow. She describes what she sees, hears, and experiences throughout her spring 2021 visits. She notes differences in temperature, plant life, and widlife based on the time of day she witnessed them and notes the changes between now and when she started this naturalist journey in early spring. She noticed many changes in the span of three months spent in the environment, and asks you to visualize them as she describes her surroundings. 

Attributions:

31153__uataudio__walkmeddrygrass

167455__kneedless__fly01: https://freesound.org/s/167455/

466129__pianofarm__crows-attacking-red-tail-hawk-03-13-2019: https://freesound.org/s/466129/

479610__craigsmith__r30-34-red-tailed-hawk: https://freesound.org/s/479610/

Pollinator sounds by Alex Jones, used by permission

In this episode, Megan explores the many wonders of Arcata Community Forest in Arcata, California. Joined by the cacophony of the redwood forest, this episode reflects on a life changed by the pandemic, the importance of connectivity in disastrous times, and the fascinating nature of fungus. Interview snippet with Christian Schwarz. Christian Schwarz is a naturalist currently living in Santa Cruz, the land of milk (caps) and honey (mushrooms). He studied Ecology and Evolution at UCSC, and now spends his time photographing, teaching about, collecting, and researching macrofungi. He is coauthor of Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. Fungi satisfy his curiosity with their seemingly endless forms – from the grotesque to the bizarre to the sublimely beautiful. Besides dabbling in mushroom taxonomy, he loves fish, plants, nudibranchs, moths, and dragonflies. He is passionate about ccommunity science, especially iNaturalist.

Credits:

Introduction music by Graham Davis

Music: Thinking Music by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4522-thinking-music

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Having observed a dramatic period of change in the first episode, we now look to studies of forest ecology in order to understand the implications of our observations, as well as to receive a general education on the functioning of forests. In this episode, Peter Wohlleben’s book “The Hidden Life of Trees” is used as the main source material from which quotes are taken and sections are paraphrased, however, other works are cited and sourced from as well. This episode will effectively initiate even the novice into knowledge of how forests function, though the study is one in which one can delve infinitely into. By the episodes completion, we’ll understand why we saw the levels of destruction we did in the first episode, as well as the connections between all the organisms we had observed.

Music Attributions:

Introduction Music: Graham Davis

Resource Attributions:

Bulk Forest Ecology Material: Peter Wohlleben’s ‘The Hidden Life of Trees’

VA Mycorrhizae Information: This Article by Randy Molina of USDA Forest Services

Related but not Directly Cited: This Article by Allison Arteaga Soergel off the UCSC Newscenter

This Article by Claire Willing from UC Berkeley

Soundscapes:


Assorted Field and Narration Recordings
From Jan. 4th to Mar. 4th, 2021   Matt Lee, Santa Cruz, CA
“Trees Creaking (speak to me.....)”  Posted Feb. 19th, 2014 on YouTube by Adam Hiscox
“🎧 Creaking trees, forest, winter…”  Posted Feb 8th, 2014 on YouTube by Sound Berries
“Tree falling in the woods”  Posted Jul. 22nd, 2013 on YouTube by Mark Hall

Pogonip, Santa Cruz, CA

Recorded by Matt Lee

Winter 2021

Tired of being stuck inside and staring at screens all day?. . yeah, me too. So let’s go on an adventure through the forests surrounding the UC Santa Cruz campus and appreciate the beauty of the trees. This first episode documents the changes I observed after a huge wind storm swept through Santa Cruz, ensuring it did not pass unnoticed by tearing apart the canopies and shedding countless leaves and branches. These events and the subsequent observations bear intrigue and prompt us to investigate forest ecology to understand what role they play in the dynasties of forests. So listen in to wet your ecological appetite.

Music Attributions:

Introduction Music: Graham Davis

Elevator Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJMK2lIReIg&t=4s

Soundscape

Assorted Field and Narration Recordings
Jan. 4th to Feb. 5th, 2021

Matt Lee, Santa Cruz, CA