California Mediterranean Research Learning Center

Research Categories:
Biological Cultural Fire Ecology	Paleontology Physical Science	Restoration Ecology Social Science

Researchers in Santa Monica Mountains

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Facts:

• Approximately 153,000 acres make Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area the world's largest urban national park

• The recreation area is surrounded by a megalopolis of 17 million people - the Los Angeles metropolitan area

• More than 33 million visitors enjoy the beaches and mountains in the recreation area each year

• An extraordinary density of nearly 1,000 archeological sites exist within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

• Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is home to 25 rare, threatened, or endangered species of plants and animals

Please contact the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area for more information at (805) 370-2300, or visit their website at www.nps.gov/samo.

Social Science

The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is one of the world's largest urban recreation areas. It offers visitors a multitude of natural, cultural, and recreational experiences.

Critical questions about interagency interactions and the interplay between economics, sociology, ecology, land use, and politics offer a wealth of social science opportunities that can be pursued in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Current Research
Relatively little social science research has been conducted in the park, although there is recognition that much work is needed. To date, most studies have focused on:

• Understanding visitor trends and demographics, usually associated with specific park planning projects (e.g. trail management plan, shuttle system plan, etc.)

• Cooperative efforts with the University of California Sustainable Cities Program that include research on park visitor attitudes toward wildlife and detailed surveys of trail users

Research Opportunities
The National Park Service hopes to significantly expand social science research within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Topics of interest include:

• Evolving American social structure and how it affects park management efforts, particularly with respect to the changing social, ethnic, and demographic composition of southern California

• Visitor capacity standards, including effective use of scientific information in choosing social or biological indicators of visitor capacity

• Variation in visitor use in relation to how it affects park resources and visitor experience quality

• Connections between people and nature-particularly the psychological and physical benefits of parklands

Overall, the social science opportunities are many and varied. The National Park Service and CMRLC look forward to working with researchers to facilitate future studies in the Santa Monica Mountains.