South Bay Salt Ponds Science Symposium

 

Birds
Credit: Julie Kitzenberger
restoration practitioners
Credit: Julie Kitzenberger
Murmuration
Credit: Julie Kitzenberger
Rachel Tertes with nest.
Credit: Rachel Tertes
Save The Bay staff with native sod.
Credit: Save the Bay
Save The Bay volunteer removing native sod from the division bed nursery.
Credit: Save The Bay
USGS deploying sediment tiles at Whales Tail south in Eden Landing
Credit: Karen Thorne
USGS sediment coring at Dutch Slough restoration.
Credit: K Bandy
SFEI Van Dorn sampler used for sediment monitoring.
Credit: SFEI
Point Blue's Julian Wood
Point Blue's Julian Wood
 Motus tower set up
Motus tower set up
 
The 2-day Symposium focused on the science that undergirds the Restoration Project, featuring up-to-date presentations and discussion on tidal marsh and pond restoration, waterbirds, sediment,  collaborations and more.

Abstracts

PDF version

Agenda

PDF version

DAY 1: WEDNESDAY, MAY 11

►9:00 – 9:20 • Welcome

9:00 Welcome, Symposium Overview, and Introductions
Donna Ball, Lead Scientist
Dave Halsing, Executive Project Manager

►9:20 – 9:50 • SESSION 1 • Project Overview

9:20 Project Status
Dave Halsing, Executive Project Manager
9:35 Science Program Update
Donna Ball, Lead Scientist

►9:50 – 10:50 • SESSION 2A • Pond Dependent Birds

Moderator: Laura Cholodenko
9:50 Migratory Monitoring in Salt Ponds: Recent Trends and Future Directions; Phalarope Migration and Use of South Bay Salt Ponds
Gabbie Burns, Lead Biologist, SF Bay Bird Observatory
10:20 Breeding Waterbird Ecology and Management for the SBSPRP
Josh Ackerman, U.S. Geological Survey
10:35 Panel: Question & Answer
Gabbie Burns and Josh Ackerman

10:50 to 11:10 • BREAK (20 minutes)

►11:10 – 12:10 • SESSION 2B • Pond Dependent Birds

Moderator: Becca Carniello
11:10 Characterizing Environmental Drivers of Macroinvertebrate and Biofilm Food Resources for Waterbirds Using the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project
Susan De La Cruz, U.S. Geological Survey
11:25 Keeping Dry Ponds as Part of Wetland Restoration? A Summary of Snowy Plover Recovery Efforts in the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project
Ben Pearl, SF Bay Bird Observatory
11:40 Motus: Western Expansion, New Taxa and Scalable Science in CDFW/Motus in the South Bay
Levi Souza, SF Bay Bird Observatory
11:55 Panel: Question & Answer
Susan De La Cruz, Ben Pearl, Levi Souza, Katie LaBarbera

►12:10 - 1:30 • SESSION 3 • Wildlife

Moderator: Donna Ball
12:10 California Ridgway’s Rail Range-Wide Surveys and Population Estimate
Julian Wood, Point Blue Conservation Science
12:30 Assessing the Aquatic Health of San Francisco Bay’s Tidal Wetlands
Levi Lewis, University of California, Davis
12:50 Nests, Nests, Everywhere: Adaptive Management in Action at Pond A19
Laura Coatney, Alluvion Biological Consulting
Rachel Tertes, United States Fish and Wildlife Service
1:15 Panel: Question & Answer
Julian Wood, Levi Lewis, Laura Coatney, Rachel Tertes


DAY 2: THURSDAY, MAY 12

►9:00 – 9:10 • Welcome

9:00 Welcome to Day 2
Donna Ball, Matt Brown, Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge, John Krause, CA Department of Fish and Wildlife

►9:10 – 10:10 • SESSION 4 • Habitat

Moderator: Rachel Tertes
9:10 Mapping Marshes and Mudflats From Space: Preliminary Results (2019 & 2021) from the Habitat Evolution Mapping Project (HEMP) 2.0
Brian Fulfrost, Brian Fulfrost and Associates
9:25 Large Transition Zone, Large Equipment: Employing Heavy Farming Equipment as One of Many Tools to Revegetate High-acreage Transition Zone Slopes
Jessie Olson, Save The Bay
9:40 Breach It and They Will Come: Invasive Plants are the Uninvited Guests to the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Party
Drew Kerr, Kerr Ecological Solutions
9:55 Panel: Question & Answer
Brian Fulfrost, Jessie Olson, Drew Kerr

►10:10 – 11:10 • SESSION 5 • Mercury and Water Quality

Moderator: April Robinson
10:10 South San Francisco Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project – A Synthesis of Phase 1 Mercury Studies
Mark Marvin-DiPasquale, United States Geological Survey
10:35 The Link Between Nutrient Dynamics and Water Quality in the Lower South Bay
Ariella Chelsky, San Francisco Estuary Institute
10:55 Panel: Question & Answer
Mark Marvin-DiPasquale, Ariella Chelsky

11:10 to 11:30 • BREAK (20 minutes)

►11:30 – 12:30 • SESSION 6 • Sediment

Moderator: Evyan Borgnis Sloane
11:30 Temporal Variability in Sediment Delivery to Whale’s Tail South Marsh in South San Francisco Bay
Jessie Lacy, United States Geological Survey
11:45 Understanding Marsh Characteristics to Inform Sea-Level Rise vulnerability in South San Francisco Bay
Karen Thorne, United States Geological Survey
12:00 Continuous Suspended Sediment Concentration and Wave Monitoring in South and Lower South San Francisco Bay
Lilia Mourier, San Francisco Estuary Institute
12:15 Panel: Question & Answer
Jessie Lacy, Karen Thorne, Lilia Mourier

►12:30 - 1:30 • SESSION 7 • Science Collaboration

Moderator: Dave Halsing
12:30 Using a Nature-Based Approach to Connect Creeks to Baylands in South San Francisco Bay
Judy Nam, Santa Clara Valley Water District
12:45 Implementing a Large-Scale, Multi-Benefit Wetland Restoration Project: The South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Project Phase 1
Evyan Borgnis Sloane, State Coastal Conservancy
1:00 Clean Soil for New Tidal Wetlands - An Overview of the Soil Quality Assurance Process
Gavin Archbald, H.T. Harvey & Associates
1:15 Panel: Question & Answer
Judy Nam, Evyan Borgnis Sloane, Gavin Archbald

►1:30 - 2:00 • OPEN HOUSE

Presentations

Dave Halsing