Cultural ecosystem services (CES), one of four main categories of ecosystem services, are often described as the non-material benefits that humans receive from their interactions with the environment.

The Habitat Heartbeats project is developing a monitoring system to integrate living organisms such as oysters and mussels ("biosentinels”) with existing monitoring efforts.

The Habitat Heartbeats project was featured during the 2023 virtual symposium showcasing recent scientific studies related to the restoration and health of San Diego estuaries including the Tijuana River Estuary, San Diego Bay, and Los Peñasquitos Lagoon.

A peer-reviewed article describing several of the biosensor tools and the design process used to build them, as part of the 2021 Collaborative Research project incorporating bivalve biosensors into estuary monitoring infrastructure. 

This webinar, which originally aired on December 12, 2013, discusses the Tijuana River Reserve's collaborative efforts to develop a vulnerability assessment that informs an adaptation strategy to address sea level rise and riverine flooding.

Southern California ’s coastal environments are under intense development pressure. In the Tijuana River Valley, this pressure translates into the fragmentation and loss of coastal wetlands that provide invaluable services, such as water quality protection.

This project overview describes a 2012 Collaborative Research project that developed a decision-making framework and tools to guide coastal wetland recovery and management in Southern California.