ABSTRACT The Santa Cruz Island Reserve (SCIR) on one of California's Channel Islands, is operated by the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). The reserve is one of the most used sites in the University of California's Natural Reserve System (NRS). SCIR supports a wide variety of year-round field research projects in habitats as diverse as marine subtidal and intertidal environments, fresh-water streams, coastal grasslands, sage scrub, chaparral, and oak and coniferous woodlands. This project will provide for efficient and effective communications connections for the new database center at SCIR. The center is housed in a donated building that was recently moved to the site, renovated, and equipped. The project will provide new opportunities for field scientists to enter, process, and analyze data while in the field, thereby guiding research efforts. The proposed telecommunications link will allow visiting scientists to communicate with staff and colleagues and to transmit data from the field station to their home institutions. The proposed project will provide the capability to store and move large data files, such as remote sensing images, between mainland and island sites. There is substantial demand for this database development, management, and availability, which will support research and teaching projects, and increase research productivity, at the field station. These data sets will be available to users throughout the world via the Internet. UC has already demonstrated substantial commitment to this project by acquiring and renovating a building at SCIR, by equipping it with GIS hardware and software, and by supporting database development.
