This report serves as a data summary and coarse-scale assessment of waterbird and water quality monitoring efforts at Alviso, Eden Landing, Coyote Hills, Dumbarton, Mowry and Ravenswood pond complexes in the South San Francisco Bay.
The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project aims to restore 50–90 percent of former salt evaporation ponds into tidal marsh in South San Francisco Bay, California. However, large numbers of waterbirds use these ponds annually as nesting and foraging habitat.
To offset for the loss of managed pond habitat during restoration of wetlands to tidal marsh, the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project is enhancing some of the remaining ponds by constructing islands for roosting and nesting waterbirds.
The 30,000 acres of wetlands within the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) provide critical habitat for over one million waterbirds annually (Page et al. 1999, Warnock et al. 2002). These wetlands consist largely of tidal marshes and open water ponds.
In 2005, PRBO Conservation Science led a multi-partner effort to develop standardized survey protocols and determine population size and trends for the endangered California Clapper Rail in the San Francisco Bay Estuary. Partners contributing to the standardized protocol dataset included the U.
The state and federally endangered California clapper rail (Rallus longirostris obsoletus) has declined in abundance and been reduced in range and now occupies fragmented intertidal saltmarsh only within San Francisco Bay.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District’s (SCVWD) Healthy Creeks and Ecosystems’ Environmental Enhancement Grant Program funded the planning and implementation of tidal marsh-upland transitional plant community restoration at former salt pond A6 (Figure 1 below).
The California Gull (Larus californicus) population in the South San Francisco Bay has increased from fewer to 200 breeding Gulls in 1982, to a peak of 52,172 in 2012. Specific to this study there were 46,030 breeding Gulls in 2010 and 37,716 breeding Gulls in 2011.
The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project plans to convert 50-90% of the former salt evaporation ponds of South San Francisco Bay into tidal marsh habitat. This large-scale habitat restoration may change the distribution, bioavailability, and bioaccumulation of methylmercury.
The Pacific Coast population of the Western Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus nivosus, Snowy Plover) breeds along or near tidal waters and is behaviorally distinct from the interior population (Funk 2007).
Estuaries are among the most dynamic, complex, and biologically productive ecosystems in the world (Alongi 1998, Good 1999). Yet, they are also extremely vulnerable to human disturbance (Kennish 2002, Lotze et al. 2006).
The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project plans to convert 50-90% of the former salt evaporation ponds of South San Francisco Bay into tidal marsh habitat. This large-scale habitat restoration may change the distribution, bioavailability, and bioaccumulation of methylmercury.
A major focus of the Project’s first phase is to develop a number of new trails and amenities, such as overlooks and interpretive displays, and to enhance some existing trails.
This report serves as a data summary and preliminary, coarse-scale assessment of waterbird and water quality monitoring efforts at Coyote Hills, Dumbarton, and Mowry salt pond complexes in the South San Francisco Bay.
In this report we document activities from March 31, 2012 to June 30, 2012, by task, and summarize the project’s current results. This is the sixth quarterly report and the first annual report for the project.
In 2011, we recorded Snowy Plover numbers, site use, nest success, fledging success, use of habitat enhancement project sites, species of nest predators and avian predator numbers throughout the Snowy Plover breeding season.
In 2010, we recorded Snowy Plover numbers, site use, nest success, fledging success, use of habitat enhancement project sites, species of nest predators and avian predator numbers throughout the Snowy Plover breeding season.
We analyzed spatially-intensive benthic samples collected during three seasons in each of three years prior to the restoration project (1993-1995) and after the restoration activities started (2006-2008).
Open-File Report 2012–1145. Here, we provide a summary of nesting ecology data for Forster’s Terns, American Avocets, and Black-necked Stilts, collected from 2005 to 2010 in the areas of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project.
This study assessed how waterfowl at new and existing trail sites in the South San Francisco Bay respond to trail use. One primary research approach we employed was to compare the number of birds before experimental trail walks to the number after at each pond site.