Naturalist Night at the Museum: Biodiversity in Times of Change

Join the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History for another engaging Naturalist Night! In exploring how butterflies of the Marble Mountain Wilderness responded to the 1997-98 El Niño, Dr. Rob Fernau will showcase how diversity can impact wildlife responses to environmental upsets.

This event is free with admission! Space is limited, so save your seat in advance: https://bit.ly/1UObq5P

About the talk:
Environmental disturbances can spark change that lasts for centuries. Climatic shifts impact wildlife in longstanding ways, and can even alter a landscape’s very shape. How do animals adapt to such change? How should stewards best manage vulnerable areas? The answer may lie in diversity. Dr. Rob Fernau has studied the Marble Mountain Wilderness — a lake-pocked landscape spanning over 225,000 acres of alpine meadows, oak and pine forests and climbing mountain peaks — for over 30 years. When hit with a drastic climatic shift, Fernau tracked how the area’s 70 butterfly species responded. His findings detail their ecological journey, and may guide environmental stewards in their quest to help wildlife endure future disturbances.

About the speaker:
Dr. Rob Fernau is an ecological biogeographer and Research Associate in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis. He has conducted ecological research in the heart of the Klamath Bioregion in the Marble Mountain Wilderness Area since 1984.

This talk begins at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:45 p.m.