9413040 Wake, D. B. The Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California at Berkeley, has operated the Hastings Natural History Reservation since 1937. Hastings is located in the Santa Lucia Mountains, a coastal mountain range in central California. Over 900 ha of the natural community mosaic is protected for research and teaching use. Hastings supports many ongoing research projects; in 1994 Hastings will provide housing and facilities for about 40 field studies. In 1989, funding from NSF provided a modern laboratory space. Recent private donations, support from NSF, from the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and the Berkeley campus has allowed significant upgrading of Hastings' facilities. Housing for 34 researchers has been added or renovated since 1988. A new domestic water storage, treatment and distribution system has been installed. Over the past six years, use at Hastings has increased dramatically and reached maximum seasonal use level determined by facility capacity and an ongoing management plan. Funding from the UC-Natural Reserve System allowed purchase of hardware and software for a geographic information system (GIS) A GIS at Hastings will be of great value to our resident and visiting researchers, neighboring landowners, and the management staff. This project will provide for the acquisition of a global positioning system (GPS) to incorporate existing data on vertebrate populations and genetics into our GIS. Other administrative uses include location of the reserve boundaries, updated maps of reserve buildings and utilities and to conduct vegetation and habitat mapping. A modern GIS and GPS capability will continue to attract new researchers and will expand the research and training opportunities for current investigators.
