Habitat loss threatens Bay Area birds
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The San Francisco Bay is a vibrant estuary that is important to millions of birds who live, winter, or migrate through our region. It is also home to 8 million humans who live and work around its shores. The biggest threat to these bird populations is habitat loss. In the Bay Area, an estimated 90 percent of historic tidal marsh has been eliminated. Riparian and seasonal wetlands, grasslands, and other natural habitats have also been lost due to human activity.
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Photo by Jackie Deely
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Photo by Ricky Pan
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Human activity, such as agriculture, controlled burns, and development, has removed tidal marshes, degraded shorelines, and impacted riparian and upland habitats. Grass prairie habitat in the U.S. has declined by more than 95 percent during the last century. In addition to a loss in habitat types is an increase in the fragmentation of remaining habitats, which can functionally reduce habitat accessibility or make navigation difficult between critical resources, such as food and resting areas.
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Loss of habitat leads to diminishing resources for birds, such as food, which in turn can create greater competition for resources and result in smaller populations. Reductions in population size negatively impact genetic diversity, and decrease the resilience of a species to other environmental changes. Human interventions are needed to help balance out these effects and SFBBO is working with our partners to develop innovative solutions.
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Our recent projects include our tidal marsh restoration work near Alviso and Redwood City; Snowy Plover habitat enhancements in Hayward; and Burrowing Owl habitat improvements in Fremont and San Jose. With the help of our volunteers, donors, and partners, we work to increase the health of these ecosystems for birds, and for the other wildlife and human communities that rely on them. Through these initiatives we not only create habitat solutions through our own efforts but, even more importantly, we share what we've learned with other organizations who use it to revitalize exponentially more habitat around the Bay Area and beyond.
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