SSU joins statewide wildlife monitoring effort ‘blazing a trail’ in ecological research
Along the Copeland Creek trail, a new set of eyes and ears is quietly documenting some of Sonoma State University’s wildest residents.
This summer, SSU joined Sentinel Sites for Nature (SSN), a coordinated statewide monitoring network designed to strengthen scientists’ understanding of how wildlife and ecosystems are changing over time.
The network spans California’s diverse landscapes, from northern coastal redwood forests and Central Valley working lands to Bay Area urban environments and Southern California deserts. Researchers use standardized monitoring methods to study biodiversity amid climate change, habitat alteration, and other environmental and human-driven pressures.
Supported by $2.5 million in funding from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Cannabis Program, the collaborative initiative brings 17 California State University campuses into the network, expanding it to more than 110 sentinel sites.
Long-term data collected across different regions can help researchers identify stressors affecting wildlife and ecosystems and inform science-based conservation efforts, including California’s goal of conserving 30% of its lands and coastal waters by 2030.
At Sonoma State, biology professor and researcher Lisa Patrick Bentley is leading the project.
SSU’s sentinel site includes four monitoring plots along Copeland Creek, each equipped with noninvasive monitoring technology. At each plot, two motion-triggered cameras are positioned to detect smaller and larger mammals, while two acoustic recorders monitor birds and bats. The cameras may also detect reptiles and amphibians.
Sonoma State’s equipment became operational earlier this year. The cameras have already captured foxes, deer, and even a squirrel curious enough to knock one camera over.
The three-year project requires participating sites to keep equipment deployed for at least 10 weeks during the monitoring period.
This semester, Bentley is working with undergraduate and graduate student researchers to maintain equipment, retrieve and analyze data, refine research methods, and track seasonal changes in wildlife and environmental conditions. With the team studying patterns in campus biodiversity, she plans to keep the equipment out year-round and said they are “particularly interested if the abundance of different species will change during the predicted super El Nino event this winter.”
The work also provides students with hands-on experience beyond the classroom. Bentley said she is excited to lead the work at SSU because it “gives students practical research experience and builds the job-ready skills needed for careers in conservation and wildlife monitoring.”
Bentley plans to bring her research on tree and forest dynamics, including interactions with wildfire and disease, into the project by exploring “the connections between ground-based remote sensing measurements of plant structure and biodiversity patterns.” She said her lab will also test whether greater heterogeneity in plant structure leads to greater wildfire biodiversity.
Data collected from SSU’s sentinel site will be shared among participating institutions, supporting collaborative analyses, cross-campus research, student-led research projects, and coordinated conservation efforts. Sonoma State’s findings will also be reported to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The project also strengthens local connections beyond campus. Bentley collaborates with Pepperwood Preserve, which maintains a similar sentinel site, creating opportunities to compare observations across different landscapes in Sonoma County.
While similar ecological monitoring efforts are being explored in other states and countries, Cal Poly Associate Professor Tim Bean said the Sentinel Sites for Nature network could serve as a model, describing California as “blazing a trail for this new way of doing ecological research.”
Photos courtesy of Abigail Doan and Lisa Patrick Bentley / SSU Sentinel Site project