A Future Garden for the Central Coast of California
A living experiment in climate resilience and ecological imagination.
What will the Central Coast look like in 2075?
The Future Garden at the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum is a fifty-year ecological experiment designed to explore how plant communities might adapt to climate change.
The project is housed within three iconic Buckminster Fuller domes, generously donated to the Arboretum, where plant ensembles are cultivated under stress conditions that reflect future environmental scenarios.
What We're Testing
Each dome hosts a distinct plant ensemble under conditions that reflect projected climate shifts.
The project features...
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Distinct Biomes: Each dome reflects three distinct ecological communities: desert, meadow, and forest.
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Variable irrigation: Watering regimes reflect both drought and excess rainfall scenarios.
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Species selection:
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Generalists with broad climate tolerance.
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Specialists threatened by climate change, chosen for assisted migration.
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These environments are designed to self-complicate, encouraging opportunistic interactions and ecological succession as conditions evolve.
Why It Matters
The Central Coast is treated as a unified biome, shaped by oceanic influence, westward winds, and a gradient of temperature and rainfall. As climate change accelerates, many species will struggle to adapt naturally due to habitat fragmentation and urban development. The Future Garden offers:
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A replicable model for climate-adaptive planting.
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A living scaffold for future ecosystems.
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A long-term contribution to the well-being of biotic communities 50–75 years from now.
With Graditiude
This project is made possible by the generous support of the Institute of Arts and Sciences (IAS) and the Arts Division at UC Santa Cruz. Funding has been provided by Metabolic Studio, the McEvoy Family Fund of the San Francisco Community Foundation, Rowland and Pat Rebele, Kathleen Rose, and annual donors to the IAS.