A citizen science laboratory beyond museum walls: Climate change research in the redwood forest outside of Chabot Space and Science Center

Background/Question/Methods

Polystichum munitum (Western sword fern) frond length and population density varies significantly with rainfall inputs in the coast redwood forests of Northern California where it grow as an understory dominant. A simple plant to locate and measure in the coast redwood forest, this species became the focus of a unique citizen science program based at Chabot Space and Science Center in 2009.The goal of the program is to directly engage the public in ongoing climate change research, thereby increasing public awareness of global and local climate change issues while providing meaningful scientific data to better understand the impact of climate change on this iconic ecosystem.Through a multidisciplinary collaboration of researchers, educators, and public volunteers, this program measures the frond lengths of P. muntium ferns at multiple sites in Redwood Regional Park, a forest adjacent to the museum in Oakland, CA. Data are archived and analyzed for comparison with other forests that receive different amounts of annual rainfall and for trends in the local fern population between years. 

Results/Conclusions

To date, more than 300 volunteers have help collect data that show P. munitum near Chabot has significantly shorter fronds that than ferns measured in all forests to the north. The average frond length of P. munitum in Redwood Regional Park is 56 cm, which is 46 cm shorter than that average frond length of the most northern P. munitum ferns measured at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. The small stature ferns near Chabot receive approximately half the rainfall annually of these more northern ferns. As our monitoring program continues, we hope to understand if P. munitum is at risk of population decline in this southern population if rainfall attenuates with climate change. With demonstrated success at Chabot, the program has expanded into Muir Woods National Monument, the most visited forest in California, and we hope to create more place-based monitoring anchors for the program in the years ahead throughout the coast redwood range.