Tidal Marsh Habitat Restoration and Research
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How to Become a Volunteer • Tidal Marsh Restoration Time-Lapse Video • 2023-2026 Strategic Plan
How to Become a Volunteer • Tidal Marsh Restoration Time-Lapse Video • 2023-2026 Strategic Plan
The San Francisco Bay contains habitats of hemispherical importance for millions of individual migrating birds from dozens of species in addition to many resident species that live in these ecosystems year-round. Unfortunately, approximately 90% of tidal marsh habitats once found along the edge of San Francisco Bay have been severely fragmented or destroyed by human activities since the 1800s.
Along the margins of these tidal marshes existed what we call the upland ecotones or upland-transition zones—habitats situated between the marsh plains and the higher elevation uplands—which provided refuge for sensitive and endangered species during high tides.
Since 2011, we've developed and tested strategies to restore habitat in the transition zones to help the marshes adapt to sea level rise. This work has encompassed everything from finding seeds and propagating plant species in our plant nursery to re-vegetating marsh transitions zones to creating map models to predict the impacts of sea level rise. Volunteers and corporate groups have helped tend baby plants in our nursery, plant them along the Bay's edge, and weed out unwanted vegetation.
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, Get Involved, Thanks to Our Supporters.
Along the margins of these tidal marshes existed what we call the upland ecotones or upland-transition zones—habitats situated between the marsh plains and the higher elevation uplands—which provided refuge for sensitive and endangered species during high tides.
Since 2011, we've developed and tested strategies to restore habitat in the transition zones to help the marshes adapt to sea level rise. This work has encompassed everything from finding seeds and propagating plant species in our plant nursery to re-vegetating marsh transitions zones to creating map models to predict the impacts of sea level rise. Volunteers and corporate groups have helped tend baby plants in our nursery, plant them along the Bay's edge, and weed out unwanted vegetation.
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, Get Involved, Thanks to Our Supporters.
The Impact of Our Work
These restored transition zone sites we work on are dominated by high-quality native vegetation that provide high-tide refuge and cover for endangered species such as the Ridgway's Rail and salt marsh harvest mouse and protect human communities from flooding. The projects include land managed by the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, and the strategies we are experimenting with are being shared with ecologists throughout the Bay Area to help them design their own tidal marsh restoration projects.
Pond A6
Our first project was at Pond A6, a 330-acre former salt production pond north of Alviso. In 2010, the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project restored Pond A6 to tidal action. The next fall, we spread seeds by airplane over 13 acres of remaining levees to re-vegetate the areas between the Bay and nearby uplands. We've monitored the site to make sure the plants take hold and provide habitat marsh species.
Bair Island
In 2015, we tilled and weeded the levee at Bair Island in Redwood City, spread seeds by hand and through hydro-seeding, planted plants we grew in our nursery, and added seed in three 5-acre fall phases. Now we monitor and weed the area with volunteers and installed a sign so hikers can take photos with smart phones to add to a time-lapse video to display our progress.
Pond A17
In 2016 we started a project at Pond A17 in Alviso. We've experimented with using three types of top soil; new tilling and straw mulching soil prep; and direct-seeding and hydro-seeding strategies to test which are most effective. Our staff and volunteers, such as students from San Jose State University, are also tracking native plant development and monitoring for invasive species.
Alviso Marina County Park
In 2021, with funding from Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation, we started enhancing the landscape around Alviso Marina County Park to more closely resemble the transitional upland habitat that historically existed around much of the southern San Francisco Bay. Most of the work for this project was accomplished with teams of stalwart volunteers who donated their time on weekends to help plant, mulch, and weed the landscapes around the park. In 2022 we partnered with educational non-profit Marshmallow Minds and Valley Water to bring 1,000 local 5th and 6th grade classes to the park to get a tour of the marsh, learn about the natural history of the San Francisco Bay, and participate in the habitat enhancement through pulling weeds and planting native plants. Many of the groups participating in this project come from Title I schools.
Eden Landing
In 2022, with funding from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, SFBBO began restoring 5 acres of habitat along Old Alameda Creek and Pond E6A in the California Department of Fish & Wildlife's Eden Landing Ecological Preserve. Part of the restoration will provide beneficial tidal marsh - upland transition habitat for wildlife living in the marshes of Old Alameda Creek, including the endangered Ridgway's rail and salt marsh harvest mouse. The other restoration area is adjacent to Pond E6A, where our goal is create habitat that enhances breeding conditions for the threatened Western snowy plover by introducing a variety of low-growing, low-density native plants that will reduce habitat for plover predators, improve the plovers' ability to move between ponds, and support a variety of other native species. In the future we hope to secure funding to restore additional acres of habitat in this area of Eden Landing.
Mapping the Marsh - Another important research program of ours is a collaboration with Brian Fulfrost & Associates on mapping the upland transitional topography around the SF estuary and attempting to rank their feasibility for restoration in the face of rapid sea-level rise. Due to climate change, tidal marsh habitats in the SF Bay are at threat of being lost, but identification and restoration of the transition zones have been recognized as the key to saving these ecosystems. By providing space in the form of transition zones, tidal marsh plant communities can adjust to rising sea-levels by moving upslope over time.
Pond A6
Our first project was at Pond A6, a 330-acre former salt production pond north of Alviso. In 2010, the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project restored Pond A6 to tidal action. The next fall, we spread seeds by airplane over 13 acres of remaining levees to re-vegetate the areas between the Bay and nearby uplands. We've monitored the site to make sure the plants take hold and provide habitat marsh species.
Bair Island
In 2015, we tilled and weeded the levee at Bair Island in Redwood City, spread seeds by hand and through hydro-seeding, planted plants we grew in our nursery, and added seed in three 5-acre fall phases. Now we monitor and weed the area with volunteers and installed a sign so hikers can take photos with smart phones to add to a time-lapse video to display our progress.
Pond A17
In 2016 we started a project at Pond A17 in Alviso. We've experimented with using three types of top soil; new tilling and straw mulching soil prep; and direct-seeding and hydro-seeding strategies to test which are most effective. Our staff and volunteers, such as students from San Jose State University, are also tracking native plant development and monitoring for invasive species.
Alviso Marina County Park
In 2021, with funding from Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation, we started enhancing the landscape around Alviso Marina County Park to more closely resemble the transitional upland habitat that historically existed around much of the southern San Francisco Bay. Most of the work for this project was accomplished with teams of stalwart volunteers who donated their time on weekends to help plant, mulch, and weed the landscapes around the park. In 2022 we partnered with educational non-profit Marshmallow Minds and Valley Water to bring 1,000 local 5th and 6th grade classes to the park to get a tour of the marsh, learn about the natural history of the San Francisco Bay, and participate in the habitat enhancement through pulling weeds and planting native plants. Many of the groups participating in this project come from Title I schools.
Eden Landing
In 2022, with funding from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, SFBBO began restoring 5 acres of habitat along Old Alameda Creek and Pond E6A in the California Department of Fish & Wildlife's Eden Landing Ecological Preserve. Part of the restoration will provide beneficial tidal marsh - upland transition habitat for wildlife living in the marshes of Old Alameda Creek, including the endangered Ridgway's rail and salt marsh harvest mouse. The other restoration area is adjacent to Pond E6A, where our goal is create habitat that enhances breeding conditions for the threatened Western snowy plover by introducing a variety of low-growing, low-density native plants that will reduce habitat for plover predators, improve the plovers' ability to move between ponds, and support a variety of other native species. In the future we hope to secure funding to restore additional acres of habitat in this area of Eden Landing.
Mapping the Marsh - Another important research program of ours is a collaboration with Brian Fulfrost & Associates on mapping the upland transitional topography around the SF estuary and attempting to rank their feasibility for restoration in the face of rapid sea-level rise. Due to climate change, tidal marsh habitats in the SF Bay are at threat of being lost, but identification and restoration of the transition zones have been recognized as the key to saving these ecosystems. By providing space in the form of transition zones, tidal marsh plant communities can adjust to rising sea-levels by moving upslope over time.
View Our Protocols, Data and Findings
Click on the links below to view our data and reports. For information about our tidal marsh research or to discuss collaborations involving our data, please contact Science Director Eric Lynch at [email protected].
- Watching the Grass Grow – For Over a Decade with founder of SFBBO's Habitats Program David Thomson - March 2022
- Slow the Flow PSA - 2021
- Bird Nests as Botanical Time Capsules: DNA Bar Coding Identifies the Contents of Contemporary and Historical Nests, PLOS One - October 2021
- Tidal Marsh Tuesdays Social Media Campaign - 2021
- Birds of Bair Island Nature Talk by Jeff Caplan - 2021
- Habitat Evolution Mapping Project Decadal Update - 2019 and 2021
- Ask a Scientist Social Media Campaign - 2020
- Tidal Marsh Birds: Indicators of Habitat Quality of the Wetland/Upland Transition Zone - 2019
- SFBBO Habitats Surveillance Protocol - 2018
- Guiding Restoration of Upland Transition Zones to Benefit Tidal Marsh Wildlife - 2018
- Tidal Marsh Restoration Program Annual Report by Habitats Program Director David Thomson - 2017
- Conservation Along the Bay Margin: Estuarine-upland Decision Support Systems in San Francisco Bay - Conservation Biology Institute - 2017
- New Mapping Methodology and Ranking System for Esturine-Upland Transition Zones is Now Available for San Francisco Bay - 2017
- Minding the Margins, San Francisco Estuary Magazine - 2017
- Management of Marsh-Upland Transitional Habitats - 2015
- Upland Transition Zones Projections - 2015
- San Francisco Bay Ecotone Conservation and Management Decision Support System - 2015
- Vegetation Management in SBSP's Alviso Unit Seeding High Marsh and Upland Transitional Habitats - 2013
- Restoring Tidal Marsh - Upland Ecotones - 2011
- The State of the Birds San Francisco Bay - 2011
Get Involved
Volunteer - Help our ecologists tend plants at our plant nursery or join a habitat restoration work day to help plant or remove vegetation by becoming a volunteer. We also welcome corporate groups.
Donate - Make a positive impact for birds and habitats by giving generously to SFBBO. Every donation we receive is wisely invested in our mission.
Report - Contribute a photo to our time-lapse video by visiting Bair Island in Redwood City and taking photo at the designation sign.
Learn - Bring your group for a tour of one of our tidal marsh restoration sites or participate in another education activity by contacting [email protected].
Partner - Collaborate with us on an event or project by contacting Science Director Eric Lynch at [email protected].
Share - Share our story by covering our work in your publication. Please contact Outreach and Communications Director Kristin Butler at [email protected] to learn more.
Donate - Make a positive impact for birds and habitats by giving generously to SFBBO. Every donation we receive is wisely invested in our mission.
Report - Contribute a photo to our time-lapse video by visiting Bair Island in Redwood City and taking photo at the designation sign.
Learn - Bring your group for a tour of one of our tidal marsh restoration sites or participate in another education activity by contacting [email protected].
Partner - Collaborate with us on an event or project by contacting Science Director Eric Lynch at [email protected].
Share - Share our story by covering our work in your publication. Please contact Outreach and Communications Director Kristin Butler at [email protected] to learn more.
Thanks to Our Supporters and Volunteers
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Thank you to our individual volunteers and corporate groups from companies such as Electronic Arts, Intuitive Surgical, and Salesforce, and partnering groups Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful and Peninsula Open Space Trust for bringing volunteer groups to help in the field.
Thanks also to our partners at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for managing the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge where this restoration work takes place. This work is funded by the Peninsula Open Space Trust, Ducks Unlimited, the California Coastal Commission, Valley Water, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, San Francisco Bay Joint Venture, San Francisco Estuary Partnership, and funds raised by the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. |
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