Avian Use of Salt Ponds Research

Quick links:
How to Become a Volunteer • South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project • 2023-2026 Strategic Plan

Hundreds of years ago, birds flying above the San Francisco Bay Area saw a Bay below them ringed by tidal marshes. Today, the Bay is ringed by buildings or colorful salt production ponds. Over the past 150 years, approximately 90 percent of historic tidal marsh has been eliminated in the San Francisco Bay through human activities, reducing waterbird habitat.

In 2003, state and federal agencies along with several private foundations purchased more than 15,000 acres of salt production evaporation ponds and in 2008, a collaboration of agencies and organizations started the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, a 50 year endeavor to restore the ponds into a mix of tidal marsh and managed wetland ponds to support diverse species.

Since then, we've conducted monthly salt pond surveys to understand how waterbirds use the ponds, before and during the Project. We share our data with our Project partners so they can create habitat that will support both pond-dependent and tidal marsh-dependent birds.

Through our Strategic Plan we aim to expand the use of our data and research, and engage with other scientific communities and resource-management agencies, to address climate change, habitat loss, and other environmental issues. We hope you will join our community of scientists, resource managers, and environmental organizations by using our data and analysis to better understand how birds are doing and find ways to promote sustainability in your community.

Jump to the following sections: Impact of Our Work, View our Data, and Thanks to Our Supporters.

Impact of Our Work

Share Data Regionally - We contribute our data to the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, a 50-year project to restore tidal marsh habitat and manage salt pond habitat around the Bay. Since 2005, SFBBO biologists have conducted surveys of the waterbirds that use managed ponds around the Bay (as well as water quality) that are associated with the Project. These surveys covered 82 ponds extending across the Alviso, Newark, Mowry, Ravenswood, and Hayward Eden Landing Ecological Reserve complexes. These data guide the restoration efforts of the project and enable our partners to maintain ponds that support the needs of multiple local species. SFBBO reports the pond survey data regularly to managers at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. They use the data to maintain target numbers for particular waterbird guilds, like Eared Grebes and phalarope.

Photo by Greg Barsh

View Our Findings and Data

Click on the links below to view our data and reports. for information about our salt pond surveys, or to discuss collaborations, please contact Science Director Nathan Van Schmidt at [email protected].

Videos

Stakeholder Forum Virtual Public Meeting - 2021
Ravenswood 2021 Construction: Salty Dave Show and Tell - 2021
How Dirt Can Rescue SF Bay Area Levees - 2021
Restoration Project Presentation: Wetland Restoration in the South Bay - 2021
Living Refuge - 2017

Reports

Thanks to Our Supporters

The work is supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

USE OF SALT PONDS RESEARCH