Enhancing Community and Wildlife Resilience to Sea‐Level Rise and Infrastructure Development in the San Pablo Baylands
Project Overview:
The San Pablo Baylands support critical wildlife habitat and major transportation infrastructure, but the combined effects of sea-level rise and planned highway redesigns on habitat and public access remain uncertain. Scientists supported by this Southwest CASC project will work with federal, state, and regional managers to fill key data gaps and model how sea-level rise, infrastructure change, and various adaptive management actions could shape future habitats, wildlife, and public access. This project will provide decision-support tools that help stakeholders plan effective outcomes for people and ecosystems.
Project Summary:
The San Pablo Baylands (Baylands) in northern San Francisco Bay (SFB), CA, are a mosaic of wetland habitats that support over half a million migratory birds each year and endangered species such as the salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris).. The Baylands also contain critical transportation infrastructure, including State Route 37, dubbed the “Flyway Highway” because of its route through miles of waterbird habitat. This scenic highway links communities to urban job centers around SFB and is undergoing a major redesign to increase capacity and prevent flooding. Considerable public dollars will be invested in wetland restoration and transportation upgrades; but the effects of sea level rise (SLR) and infrastructure changes on wildlife habitat, local communities, and public access are largely unknown.
The goal of this project is to understand the potential impacts of SLR and transportation redesigns on the Baylands and to identify management actions that could help achieve desired future habitat and public access. Key data gaps, habitat goals, and potential management actions will be identified through stakeholder workshops with federal, state, and regional managers. The project team will model habitat evolution under current SLR projections and existing infrastructure conditions. Then, adaptive management options, such as augmenting sediment, levee removal or construction, or planting vegetation, will be incorporated into additional modeling scenarios to assess how these actions could influence future habitat evolution, wildlife abundance, and public access.
Support products will allow stakeholders to visualize future scenarios, enabling discussion of triggers and thresholds for management actions to achieve desired wildlife and access goals in the face of rising seas and changing infrastructure.
- Source: USGS Sciencebase (id: 69666782d4be023756ae8d8a)
Susan De La Cruz
Research Wildlife Biologist
Karen Thorne, Ph.D.
Research Ecologist
Project Overview:
The San Pablo Baylands support critical wildlife habitat and major transportation infrastructure, but the combined effects of sea-level rise and planned highway redesigns on habitat and public access remain uncertain. Scientists supported by this Southwest CASC project will work with federal, state, and regional managers to fill key data gaps and model how sea-level rise, infrastructure change, and various adaptive management actions could shape future habitats, wildlife, and public access. This project will provide decision-support tools that help stakeholders plan effective outcomes for people and ecosystems.
Project Summary:
The San Pablo Baylands (Baylands) in northern San Francisco Bay (SFB), CA, are a mosaic of wetland habitats that support over half a million migratory birds each year and endangered species such as the salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris).. The Baylands also contain critical transportation infrastructure, including State Route 37, dubbed the “Flyway Highway” because of its route through miles of waterbird habitat. This scenic highway links communities to urban job centers around SFB and is undergoing a major redesign to increase capacity and prevent flooding. Considerable public dollars will be invested in wetland restoration and transportation upgrades; but the effects of sea level rise (SLR) and infrastructure changes on wildlife habitat, local communities, and public access are largely unknown.
The goal of this project is to understand the potential impacts of SLR and transportation redesigns on the Baylands and to identify management actions that could help achieve desired future habitat and public access. Key data gaps, habitat goals, and potential management actions will be identified through stakeholder workshops with federal, state, and regional managers. The project team will model habitat evolution under current SLR projections and existing infrastructure conditions. Then, adaptive management options, such as augmenting sediment, levee removal or construction, or planting vegetation, will be incorporated into additional modeling scenarios to assess how these actions could influence future habitat evolution, wildlife abundance, and public access.
Support products will allow stakeholders to visualize future scenarios, enabling discussion of triggers and thresholds for management actions to achieve desired wildlife and access goals in the face of rising seas and changing infrastructure.
- Source: USGS Sciencebase (id: 69666782d4be023756ae8d8a)