The San Joaquin Experimental Range is an ecosystem research experimental area in the foothills of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

. The range is located in

O'Neals, California O'Neals is an unincorporated community in Madera County, California. It is located on the Willow Creek southeast of Raymond, at an elevation of 1309 feet (399 m). The O'Neals post office opened in 1887. The name honored Charles O'Neal, merchan ...

, outside of the

Sierra National Forest Sierra National Forest is a U.S. national forest located on the western slope of central Sierra Nevada in Central California and bounded on the northwest by Yosemite National Park and the south by Kings Canyon National Park. The forest is know ...

about north of

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

. The range includes a portion of California

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

and California

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

s with

blue oak ''Quercus douglasii'', known as blue oak, is a species of oak endemic to (and found only in) California, common in the Coast Ranges and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It is California's most drought-tolerant deciduous oak, and is a dominan ...

interior live oak ''Quercus wislizeni'', known by the common name interior live oak, is an evergreen oak, highly variable and often shrubby, found in many areas of California in the United States continuing south into northern Baja California in Mexico. It general ...

, and bull pine. The San Joaquin Experimental Range was established after a statement on the need for an experimental area in the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

foothills was prepared in 1934. The initial purpose for the San Joaquin Experimental Range was to learn how to better manage these lands and investigate resource and

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, star ...

problems associated with maintaining a commercial cattle herd on a year-round basis on the foothill rangelands. San Joaquin lands were purchased in 1934 (), with additional purchases in 1936 () and 1937 (). In 1938, another 64 ha were obtained under authority of the Weeks Forestry Act. Of these, 32 ha have been designated as a

Research Natural Area Research Natural Area is a designation for certain protected areas in the United States. Research Natural Areas (RNAs) are part of a nationwide network of ecological areas set aside for both research and education. The network includes areas man ...

. The San Joaquin is managed cooperatively by the Pacific Southwest Research Station of the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

and

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univer ...

's Agricultural Foundation, primarily for research and education. Facilities include limited conference facilities, office space, barracks, and storage space available for approved research. Today, long-term records on livestock gains and herbage yield and utilization are available. Parts of the range have served as a

, protected from fire and ungrazed by domestic livestock since 1934. Remaining portions of the range have been grazed by various classes of livestock during different seasons. Some range units have been modified through the application of fertilizers.

Prescribed burning A controlled or prescribed burn, also known as hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing, or a burn-off, is a fire set intentionally for purposes of forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. A control ...

has been used in some units for forage improvement. A cowherd and facilities at the experimental range also provide opportunities for students to gain practical experience in the commercial

cattle industry Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit w ...

. The range was established as a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

under the designation San Joaquin Biosphere Reserve in 1976. Its biosphere reserve status was withdrawn in 2019, at the request of the US Government. "Biosphere reserves in Europe & North America". UNESCO, June 2019

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Administration

The range's administration is located at San Joaquin Experimental Range USDA Forest Service Sierra Nevada Research Center 2081 East Sierra Avenue Fresno, CA 93710 A research center and lab is located at San Joaquin Experimental Range California State University-Fresno School of Agricultural Sciences and Technology 2385 East Barstow Avenue Fresno, CA 93740

References

{{free-content attribution , author = UNESCO , title = UNESCO - MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory , publisher = UNESCO , documentURL = http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/biores.asp?code=USA+21&mode=all , License statement URL = http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/biosphere-reserves/world-network-wnbr/wnbr/ , licence = CC BY-SA IGO 3.0 Sierra Nevada (United States) Ecological experiments Protected areas of San Joaquin County, California Former biosphere reserves of the United States