Final report for sea-level rise response modeling for San Francisco Bay estuary tidal marshes

Takekawa, John Y.; Thorne, Karen M.; Buffington, Kevin J.; Spragens, Kyle A.; Swanson, Kathleen M.; Drexler, Judith Z.; Schoellhamer, David H.; Overton, Cory T.; Casazza, Michael L.

doi:10.3133/ofr20131081

Cited by 28 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol21/iss1/art19/ Downscaling of climate projections has resulted in growing concern that sea-level rise may influence California rail survival and habitat suitability (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2013) through the reduction of habitat available as refuge cover for salt marsh-obligate species (Flick et al 2003, NOAA 2009. Approximately 90% of marshland in SF Bay has been lost or converted to other land uses, causing reduction and fragmentation of remaining marshland (San Francisco Bay Area Wetlands Ecosystem Goals Project 1999), and SF Bay may lose the remaining high-marsh habitat that serves as refuge during extreme tides over the next century (Stralberg et al 2011, Takekawa et al 2013), unless sedimentation rates can increase to offset sea-level rise and thereby minimize loss of tidal refugia. Detailed analysis of California rail call-count surveys, habitats, and landscape conditions has increased our understanding of how marsh structure, surrounding landscapes, and restored marshland may influence California rail populations ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endangered species management and ecosystem restoration: finding the common ground

Casazza¹,

Overton²,

Bui³

et al. 2016

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Management actions to protect endangered species and conserve ecosystem function may not always be in precise alignment. Efforts to recover the California Ridgway's Rail (Rallus obsoletus obsoletus; hereafter, California rail), a federally and statelisted species, and restoration of tidal marsh ecosystems in the San Francisco Bay estuary provide a prime example of habitat restoration that has conflicted with species conservation. On the brink of extinction from habitat loss and degradation, and non-native predators in the 1990s, California rail populations responded positively to introduction of a non-native plant, Atlantic cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora). California rail populations were in substantial decline when the non-native Spartina was initially introduced as part of efforts to recover tidal marshes. Subsequent hybridization with the native Pacific cordgrass (Spartina foliosa) boosted California rail populations by providing greater cover and increased habitat area. The hybrid cordgrass (S. alterniflora × S. foliosa) readily invaded tidal mudflats and channels, and both crowded out native tidal marsh plants and increased sediment accretion in the marsh plain. This resulted in modification of tidal marsh geomorphology, hydrology, productivity, and species composition. Our results show that denser California rail populations occur in invasive Spartina than in native Spartina in San Francisco Bay. Herbicide treatment between 2005 and 2012 removed invasive Spartina from open intertidal mud and preserved foraging habitat for shorebirds. However, removal of invasive Spartina caused substantial decreases in California rail populations. Unknown facets of California rail ecology, undesirable interim stages of tidal marsh restoration, and competing management objectives among stakeholders resulted in management planning for endangered species or ecosystem restoration that favored one goal over the other. We have examined this perceived conflict and propose strategies for moderating harmful effects of restoration while meeting the needs of both endangered species and the imperiled native marsh ecosystem.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endangered species management and ecosystem restoration: finding the common ground

Casazza¹,

Overton²,

Bui³

et al. 2016

E&S

Self Cite

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“…Loss of tidal refugia could be minimized if sedimentation rates can offset sea level rise. However, under all projected climate scenarios, San Francisco Bay is expected to lose high marsh habitat that serves as refuge during extreme tides (Stralberg et al 2011;Takekawa et al 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The remaining natural habitats in San Francisco Bay may not currently provide high quality habitat for clapper rails, and nearly 96 % may convert to mudflat under projected sea-level rise scenarios (Cayan et al 2008;Takekawa et al 2013). Short vegetation, or that which occurs at the lowest elevations of the marsh, may provide suitable habitat for the majority of the year but be unsuitable during critical high tide periods.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sea-level rise and refuge habitats for tidal marsh species: Can artificial islands save the California Ridgway's rail?

Overton¹,

Takekawa²,

Casazza³

et al. 2015

Ecological Engineering

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Invasive species frequently degrade habitats, disturb ecosystem processes, and can increase the likelihood of extinction of imperiled populations. However, novel or enhanced functions provided by invading species may reduce the impact of processes that limit populations. It is important to recognize how invasive species benefit endangered species to determine overall effects on sensitive ecosystems. For example, since the 1990s, hybrid Spartina (Spartina foliosa 9 alterniflora) has expanded throughout South San Francisco Bay, USA, supplanting native vegetation and invading mudflats. The endangered California clapper rail (Rallus longirostris obsoletus) uses the tall, dense hybrid Spartina for cover and nesting, but the effects of hybrid Spartina on clapper rail survival was unknown. We estimated survival rates of 108 radio-marked California clapper rails in South San Francisco Bay from January 2007 to March 2010, a period of extensive hybrid Spartina eradication, with Kaplan-Meier product limit estimators. Clapper rail survival patterns were consistent with hybrid Spartina providing increased refuge cover from predators during tidal extremes which flood native vegetation, particularly during the winter when the vegetation senesces. Model averaged annual survival rates within hybrid Spartina dominated marshes before eradication (Ŝ = 0.466) were greater than the same marshes posttreatment (Ŝ = 0.275) and a marsh dominated by native vegetation (Ŝ = 0.272). However, models with and without marsh treatment as explanatory factor for survival rates had nearly equivalent support in the observed data, lending ambiguity as to whether hybrid Spartina facilitated greater survival rates than native marshland. Conservation actions to aid in recovery of this endangered species should recognize the importance of available of high tide refugia, particularly in light of invasive species eradication programs and projections of future sea-level rise.

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“…LIRA's elevational range across Sanchez, Coyote, and Seal (1.77 to 2.51 m NAVD88, or 0.75 to 1.49 m above MSL) corresponds with the high marsh (0.7 to 1.0 m MSL) and upland transition zone (> 1.0 m MSL) in estuary tidal marshes (Takekawa et al 2012 LIRA was found across a soil salinity gradient that decreased from the high marsh into the transition zone, a salinity pattern consistent with findings in the estuary (Mahall and Park 1976;St. Omer 2004), at Pt.…”

Section: Habitats Susceptible To Invasionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We displayed LIRA's vertical range (in NAVD88) as boxplots relative to tidal datums [mean high water (MHW) and mean higher high water (MHHW)] and 100-year flood elevations (USACE 1984) using the R statistical package. Tidal datums have been used to describe the distribution of marsh vegetation in the estuary (Hinde 1954;Atwater et al 1979;Takekawa et al 2012), and the 100-year flood elevation shows the approximate upper reach of tidal inundation. We obtained tidal datum values referenced to mean lower low water (MLLW) from 16 surrounding National Ocean Service (NOS) water level stations from the http://www.noaa.gov website (NOAA CO-OPS 2010), and point locations of 100-year flood elevation data (in NAVD88) from the Pacific Institute website (PI 2011 (Foxgrover et al 2005).…”

Section: Elevational Range Of Lira Relative To Tidesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and Invasion Potential of Limonium ramosissimum subsp. provinciale in San Francisco Estuary Salt Marshes

Archbald¹,

Boyer²

2014

SFEWS

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Final report for sea-level rise response modeling for San Francisco Bay estuary tidal marshes

Cited by 28 publications

References 3 publications

Endangered species management and ecosystem restoration: finding the common ground

Endangered species management and ecosystem restoration: finding the common ground

Sea-level rise and refuge habitats for tidal marsh species: Can artificial islands save the California Ridgway's rail?

Distribution and Invasion Potential of Limonium ramosissimum subsp. provinciale in San Francisco Estuary Salt Marshes

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