Former lab member Maddie Ybarra examined habitat quality (a lab core theme!) of these two iconic sparrows in grazed grasslands of the central California coast. Working with Point Blue Conservation Science, Maddie measured physiological indicators of habitat quality -- including ratios of different types of white blood cells -- and associated them with vegetation in the grasslands.  

California's Healthy Soils Program incentivizes ranchers to manage their rangelands in ways that should benefit their herds while also provide other ecosystem services such as soil conservation and carbon sequestration. But these actions may also help birds, a concept we call "co-benefits" of improved range management. Two other lab members -- Ximena Moura and Dabid Garcia -- also worked with Point Blue Conservation Science to investigate these ideas. Ximena's work focused on grassland-associated birds, and Dabid's work focused on soil organic carbon. All the students working on this grassland research were supported by grants from the US Dept of Agriculture, which also supported our Echale Ganas and Camino al Rancho programs, with collaborators Drs. Rafael Cuevas Uribe and Susan Marshal.