|
|
Image source: SFEP Files
|
|
Monitoring Site Network
In February 2023, the WRMP Steering Committee approved the Monitoring Site Network technical memo prepared by the Technical Advisory Committee! The chosen sites reflect the different geographic regions of the Bay and types of restoration activities. These sites include ‘benchmark’ sites of old growth wetland, which can serve as sentinels of large-scale environmental change; ‘reference’ sites of well-established wetland restoration efforts than can provide insight for newer restoration projects; and ‘project’ sites that are newly implemented and still maturing. Read the Monitoring Site Network Technical Memo here.
|
|
|
|
|
Image source: Sasha Harris-Lovett (SFEP)
|
|
|
Featured Site-Rush Ranch
Rush Ranch is one of the benchmark sites included in the WRMP Monitoring Site Network as part of the Suisun Slough Network. The site is owned and managed by the Solano Land Trust. At 1,050 acres, it is the largest intact brackish tidal wetland in the San Francisco Estuary! This wetland is home to multiple listed fish, wildlife, and plants, including delta smelt, the salt marsh harvest mouse, California tiger salamanders, Suisun thistle, and the soft bird's beak plant. Rush Ranch was selected as a benchmark site for the WRMP because of the availability of existing datasets from monitoring conducted at this site through the National Estuarine Research Reserve.
|
|
|
|
Image source: SFEP Files
WRMP Workgroups
Science workgroups have been moving forward, demonstrating leadership in the use of emerging technologies and linking indicators to the needs of multiple stakeholders (such as regulators and land managers). Each workgroup will develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for measuring different aspects of the Bay Area’s wetland health. To learn more about what SOPs are and their importance, please check out this WRMP Blog post on SOPs written by former SeaGrant Fellow Carmen Zamora.
Key updates from the technical workgroups:
People and Wetlands workgroup: Led by Keta Price (Hood Planning Group) and Denise Walker (SFEI), this workgroup is meeting regularly, with the ultimate goal of developing monitoring indicators for the ways people interact with wetlands, including equity considerations, to recommend for inclusion in the WRMP. The workgroup is currently discussing ways to incorporate equity and additional human connections to wetlands into new or revised Management Questions under Guiding Question 5: "How do policies, programs, and projects to protect and restore tidal wetlands benefit and/or impact public health, safety, and recreation?" Management Questions are questions of interest to decision-makers such as wetland managers, project implementers, regulators, and funders (https://www.wrmp.org/science-framework/).
Hydrogeomorphic workgroup: This group, led by Jeremy Lowe (SFEI) and Christina Toms (Water Board) with support from Kevin Buffington (USGS), Stuart Siegel (SF NERR), and Caitlin Crain (SFEI), officially launched in March. The group is gathering Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) related to hydrogeomorphic features, which will be compiled and put in the context of the WRMP. The SOPs will address numerous physical characteristics of tidal marshes including tidal inundation, sea level rise, and suspended sediment concentrations, among others.
Vegetation workgroup: This group, led by Mike Vasey (SF Bay NERR emeritus) and Iryna Dronova (UC Berkeley) with support from Caitlin Crain (SFEI), has been meeting regularly. They are actively working on developing their SOPs, which will address vegetation monitoring at both the landscape scale with remote sensing and at a site-specific scale with field-based monitoring.
Fish and Fish Habitat: Led by Levi Lewis (UC Davis) and Alison Weber-Stover (NOAA), this group has a well-developed SOP that is close to being finalized. The Fish and Fish Habitat SOP will demonstrate the breadth of monitoring options, recommend sampling methods, and provide an inventory of historic sampling.
Geospatial workgroup: This group, led by Pete Kauhanen (SFEI) and Christina Toms (Water Board), is continuing to advise the development of the Baylands Change Basemap. They are on schedule to finish the Basemap in November 2023.
|
|
|
|
Preliminary results from China Camp using eCognition (SFEI)
|
|
Baylands Change Basemap
The most recent map of the modern Baylands was created over 20 years ago. Funded by the USEPA’s San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund, the new Baylands Change Basemap will update the existing map of tidal marsh, tidal flats, and diked baylands to incorporate the many changes in baylands distribution and abundance that have occurred over the last two decades. With the expertise and guidance of the WRMP Geospatial Workgroup, the mapping team will use new imagery and automated mapping techniques to develop an updated Basemap and procedures for detecting change in habitat types over time. This automated approach will allow for more standardized and frequent updates, so the Basemap can serve as a common reference map to help coordinate baylands protection and restoration efforts. The Baylands Change Basemap is one of the first products being produced by the WRMP that directly addresses a Guiding and Management Question (Guiding Question 1). Once completed, the map will be integrated into the California Aquatic Resource Inventory (CARI) and EcoAtlas visualization tools. The Basemap will also be shared on the WRMP Geospatial Data Catalog and WRMP website. More information is available here.
|
|
|
|
|
Image source: Rick Lewis (SFEP Files)
|
|
|
Communications and Engagement
The WRMP is committed to communicating data about our region’s wetlands to decision-makers, regulators, practitioners, and the interested public.
Communications Plan
The WRMP staff is developing a comprehensive Communications Plan for the program, which involves defining the key audiences for WRMP products and information, as well as clarifying the most effective modes of communication with each of the key audiences. The Communications Plan will guide outreach efforts to connect decision-makers with WRMP data and technical products, and inform elected officials, news media, funders, and the general public about the WRMP’s work.
|
|
|
|
The WRMP is pleased to welcome Taylor Pantiga, our 2023-24 Sea Grant Fellow!
|
|
|
Tell us a little about yourself:
Hello! I am a 2023 California Sea Grant State Fellow working with SFEP for the next year. I will primarily be assisting with the WRMP, in addition to other projects. Broadly, I am interested in the conservation and restoration of coastal wetlands. My master’s thesis in Interdisciplinary Marine and Estuarine Sciences at San Francisco State University (SFSU) focused on seagrass wasting disease and population genetics of eelgrass in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to my graduate studies at SFSU, I worked with several state and federal agencies to conserve endangered plants, birds, and salmonids along California’s coast.
What about the WRMP is most exciting for you?
I am really looking forward to contributing to work that will help this important habitat and benefit Bay Area communities. Additionally, I am excited about the program’s goal to make monitoring data usable for users in multiple fields related to tidal marsh restoration in the Bay Area.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Outside of work I enjoy hiking, running, and reading! I also play the flute.
|
|
|
|
