Santa Lucia Conservancy is responsible for the development and annual implementation of a science-based natural resource monitoring program. Annual monitoring, combined with an extensive biological baseline database compiled in the early 1990s, allows the Conservancy to assess ecosystem health, test early assumptions made in development of the Santa Lucia Preserve model, and inform resource management actions.

A partial list of the Santa Lucia Conservancy’s annual resource monitoring responsibilities on Santa Lucia Preserve includes:

• Acorn crop (mast) production
• Riparian community health assessment
• Owl survey
• Riparian breeding bird survey
• Wildlife corridor monitoring
• Rare plant and natural community monitoring
• Surface and ground water quality analysis
• Stream flow monitoring
• Deer and feral pig population census
• Permanent photo point monitoring to assess qualitative landscape change
• Conservation easement monitoring
• West Nile Virus surveillance