Isa Woo
I am a Biologist with USGS, Western Ecological Research Center. My research focuses on estuaries, restoration research, and monitoring in the San Francisco Bay and Puget Sound ecosystems.
With over 10 years of experience leading the Wetland Restoration Program at USGS San Francisco Bay Estuary Field Station, I have been fortunate to have worked in amazing wetlands, including the Alaskan tundra, Mo'orea mangroves, Wisconsin lacustrine wetlands, and coastal and tidal marshes in San Francisco Bay and Puget Sound. At USGS, I have helped developed, implemented, and established new tools to track restoration change (i.e., remote sensing, RTK GPS mapping, bathymetry system, remote logger network) as well as establish the benthic ecology laboratory. As a cohesive team, we provide science support to land managers with assessments of early phase estuarine restorations within a long term monitoring framework (incorporating Climate Change and Blue Carbon data needs).
We work closely with Federal, Tribal, and State managers so that applied research addresses adaptive management priorities on a variety of topic areas such as: restoration effectiveness, USFWS Tidal Marsh Recovery Plan species and habitats, benthic invertebrate prey availability and carrying capacity for shorebirds, juvenile salmonid invertebrate prey within habitat mosaics within a restored estuary, benthic invertebrate colonization along elevation gradients, methylmercury in tidal marsh, food webs, and inundation and salinity effects on plants. The manuscript Woo and Zedler 2002 was selected as one of the top 30 papers in the past 30 years in the international journal Wetlands (http://www.springer.com/life+sciences/ecology/journal/13157?detailsPage=press)
I am also interested in outreach and education. I co-created an online repository of wetland monitoring www.nisquallydeltarestoration.org, and designed a practitioner’s online guide to monitoring methods http://tidalmarshmonitoring.net/. Our programs have benefitted from student interns (high school to graduate level students) through various internships (e.g., USGS NAGT, SISNAR, and Youth internships, Solano Community College Internships, and Benicia High School Ech2O Academy).
PAST PUBLICATIONS
Davis, M. J., Woo, I., Ellings, C. S., Hodgson, S., Beauchamp, D. A., Nakai, G. and De La Cruz, S. E. W. 2019. Freshwater Tidal Forests and Estuarine Wetlands May Confer Early Life Growth Advantages for Delta‐Reared Chinook Salmon. Trans Am Fish Soc, 148: 289-307. doi:10.1002/tafs.10134
Drexler, J. Z., Woo, I. , Fuller, C. C. and Nakai, G. 2019. Carbon accumulation and vertical accretion in a restored versus historic salt marsh in southern Puget Sound, Washington, United States. Restor Ecol. doi:10.1111/rec.12941
Holmquist, J.R., L. Windham-Myers, N. Bliss, S. Crooks, J.T. Morris, P.J. Megonigal, T. Trox
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 35
Comparing automated classification and digitization approaches to detect change in eelgrass bed extent during restoration of a large river delta
Native eelgrass (Zostera marina) is an important contributor to ecosystem services that supplies cover for juvenile fish, supports a variety of invertebrate prey resources for fish and waterbirds, provides substrate for herring roe consumed by numerous fish and birds, helps stabilize sediment, and sequesters organic carbon. Seagrasses are in decline globally, and monitoring changes in their growth
Authors
Anna Elizabeth Davenport, Jerry D. Davis, Isa Woo, Eric E. Grossman, Jesse B. Barham, Christopher S. Ellings, John Y. Takekawa
Assessing wildlife benefits and carbon storage from restored and natural coastal marshes in the Nisqually River Delta: Determining marsh net ecosystem carbon balance
Working in partnership since 1996, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nisqually Indian Tribe have restored 902 acres of tidally influenced coastal marsh in the Nisqually River Delta (NRD), making it the largest estuary-restoration project in the Pacific Northwest to date. Marsh restoration increases the capacity of the estuary to support a diversity of wildlife species. Restoration also in
Authors
Frank Anderson, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Isa Woo, Susan De La Cruz, Judith Z. Drexler, Kristin Byrd, Karen M. Thorne
Science foundation Chapter 5 Appendix 5.1: Case study marsh macroinvertebrates
This case study includes representative macroinvertebrates that live in the marsh plain, its associated channels and pannes (ponds), and the marsh-upland transition zone. While less visible than animals such as birds, invertebrates play important roles in physical and biological processes (e.g., burrowing activity and channel bank erosion, and detritivores breaking down organic matter) and are imp
Authors
Elizabeth Brusati, Isa Woo
Vegetation community response to tidal marsh restoration of a large river estuary
Estuaries are biologically productive and diverse ecosystems that provide ecosystem services including protection of inland areas from flooding, filtering freshwater outflows, and providing habitats for fish and wildlife. Alteration of historic habitats, including diking for agriculture, has decreased the function of many estuarine systems, and recent conservation efforts have been directed at res
Authors
Lisa J. Belleveau, John Y. Takekawa, Isa Woo, Kelley L. Turner, Jesse B. Barham, Jean E. Takekawa, Christopher S. Ellings, Gerardo Chin-Leo
Foraging and growth potential of juvenile Chinook Salmon after tidal restoration of a large river delta
We evaluated whether restoring tidal flow to previously diked estuarine wetlands also restores foraging and growth opportunities for juvenile Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. Several studies have assessed the value of restored tidal wetlands for juvenile Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp., but few have used integrative measures of salmon performance, such as habitat-specific growth potential
Authors
Aaron T. David, Christopher Ellings, Isa Woo, Charles A. Simenstad, John Y. Takekawa, Kelley L. Turner, Ashley L. Smith, Jean E. Takekawa
Avian communities in tidal salt marshes of San Francisco Bay: A review of functional groups by foraging guild and habitat association
The San Francisco Bay estuary is highly urbanized, but it supports the largest remaining extent of tidal salt marshes on the west coast of North America as well as a diverse native bird community. San Francisco Bay tidal marshes are occupied by more than 113 bird species that represent 31 families, including five subspecies from three families that we denote as tidal-marsh obligates. To better ide
Authors
John Y. Takekawa, Isa Woo, Rachel J. Gardiner, Michael L. Casazza, Joshua T. Ackerman, Nadav Nur, Leonard Liu, Hildie Spautz
Measuring sediment accretion in early tidal marsh restoration
Sediment accretion is a critical indicator of initial progress in tidal marsh restoration. However, it is often difficult to measure early deposition rates, because the bottom surface is usually obscured under turbid, tidally-influenced waters. To accurately measure early sediment deposition in marshes, we developed an echosounder system consisting of a specialized acoustic profiler, differential
Authors
John Y. Takekawa, Isa Woo, Nicole D. Athearn, Scott A. Demers, Rachel J. Gardiner, William M. Perry, Neil K. Ganju, Gregory Shellenbarger, David H. Schoellhamer
Integrating terrestrial LiDAR and stereo photogrammetry to map the Tolay lakebed in northern San Francisco Bay
The Tolay Creek Watershed drains approximately 3,520 ha along the northern edge of San Francisco Bay. Surrounded by a mosaic of open space conservation easements and public wildlife areas, it is one of the only watersheds in this urbanized estuary that is protected from its headwaters to the bay. Tolay Lake is a seasonal, spring-fed lake found in the upper watershed that historically extended over
Authors
Isa Woo, Storesund, John Y. Takekawa, Rachel J. Gardiner, Ehret
Home range, habitat selection, and movements of California Black Rails at tidal marshes at San Francisco Bay, California
Little is known about the movements and habitat selection of California Black Rails (Laterallus jamaicensis coturniculus) in coastal California. We captured 130 Black Rails, of which we radio-marked 48, in tidal marshes in San Francisco Bay during 2005 and 2006. Our objective was to examine their home ranges, movements, and habitat selection to improve the species' conservation. The mean fixed-ker
Authors
Danika C. Tsao, John Y. Takekawa, Isa Woo, Julie L. Yee, Jules G. Evens
Potential effects of mercury on threatened California black rails
San Francisco Bay (SFB) estuary sediments contain high levels of mercury (Hg), and tidal marsh resident species may be vulnerable to Hg contamination. We examined Hg concentrations in California black rails, a threatened waterbird species that inhabits SFB tidal salt marshes. We captured 127 black rails during the prebreeding and postbreeding seasons and examined the influence of site, sex, and ye
Authors
Danika C. Tsao, A. Keith Miles, John Y. Takekawa, Isa Woo
Can nutrients alone shift a sedge meadow towards dominance by the invasive Typha × glauca
Where wetlands receive urban runoff, Typha spp. and other invasive plants often displace the native vegetation. We tested the ability of nutrients (N and P) to increase vegetative growth of T. × glauca(a hybrid of T. latifolia and T. angustifolia). In the greenhouse, 17 treatments revealed that T. × glauca required both N and P for growth, and total leaf length was most stimulated where a higher p
Authors
Isa Woo, Joy B. Zedler
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Filter Total Items: 35
Comparing automated classification and digitization approaches to detect change in eelgrass bed extent during restoration of a large river delta
Native eelgrass (Zostera marina) is an important contributor to ecosystem services that supplies cover for juvenile fish, supports a variety of invertebrate prey resources for fish and waterbirds, provides substrate for herring roe consumed by numerous fish and birds, helps stabilize sediment, and sequesters organic carbon. Seagrasses are in decline globally, and monitoring changes in their growthAuthorsAnna Elizabeth Davenport, Jerry D. Davis, Isa Woo, Eric E. Grossman, Jesse B. Barham, Christopher S. Ellings, John Y. TakekawaAssessing wildlife benefits and carbon storage from restored and natural coastal marshes in the Nisqually River Delta: Determining marsh net ecosystem carbon balance
Working in partnership since 1996, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nisqually Indian Tribe have restored 902 acres of tidally influenced coastal marsh in the Nisqually River Delta (NRD), making it the largest estuary-restoration project in the Pacific Northwest to date. Marsh restoration increases the capacity of the estuary to support a diversity of wildlife species. Restoration also inAuthorsFrank Anderson, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Isa Woo, Susan De La Cruz, Judith Z. Drexler, Kristin Byrd, Karen M. ThorneScience foundation Chapter 5 Appendix 5.1: Case study marsh macroinvertebrates
This case study includes representative macroinvertebrates that live in the marsh plain, its associated channels and pannes (ponds), and the marsh-upland transition zone. While less visible than animals such as birds, invertebrates play important roles in physical and biological processes (e.g., burrowing activity and channel bank erosion, and detritivores breaking down organic matter) and are impAuthorsElizabeth Brusati, Isa WooVegetation community response to tidal marsh restoration of a large river estuary
Estuaries are biologically productive and diverse ecosystems that provide ecosystem services including protection of inland areas from flooding, filtering freshwater outflows, and providing habitats for fish and wildlife. Alteration of historic habitats, including diking for agriculture, has decreased the function of many estuarine systems, and recent conservation efforts have been directed at resAuthorsLisa J. Belleveau, John Y. Takekawa, Isa Woo, Kelley L. Turner, Jesse B. Barham, Jean E. Takekawa, Christopher S. Ellings, Gerardo Chin-LeoForaging and growth potential of juvenile Chinook Salmon after tidal restoration of a large river delta
We evaluated whether restoring tidal flow to previously diked estuarine wetlands also restores foraging and growth opportunities for juvenile Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. Several studies have assessed the value of restored tidal wetlands for juvenile Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp., but few have used integrative measures of salmon performance, such as habitat-specific growth potentialAuthorsAaron T. David, Christopher Ellings, Isa Woo, Charles A. Simenstad, John Y. Takekawa, Kelley L. Turner, Ashley L. Smith, Jean E. TakekawaAvian communities in tidal salt marshes of San Francisco Bay: A review of functional groups by foraging guild and habitat association
The San Francisco Bay estuary is highly urbanized, but it supports the largest remaining extent of tidal salt marshes on the west coast of North America as well as a diverse native bird community. San Francisco Bay tidal marshes are occupied by more than 113 bird species that represent 31 families, including five subspecies from three families that we denote as tidal-marsh obligates. To better ideAuthorsJohn Y. Takekawa, Isa Woo, Rachel J. Gardiner, Michael L. Casazza, Joshua T. Ackerman, Nadav Nur, Leonard Liu, Hildie SpautzMeasuring sediment accretion in early tidal marsh restoration
Sediment accretion is a critical indicator of initial progress in tidal marsh restoration. However, it is often difficult to measure early deposition rates, because the bottom surface is usually obscured under turbid, tidally-influenced waters. To accurately measure early sediment deposition in marshes, we developed an echosounder system consisting of a specialized acoustic profiler, differentialAuthorsJohn Y. Takekawa, Isa Woo, Nicole D. Athearn, Scott A. Demers, Rachel J. Gardiner, William M. Perry, Neil K. Ganju, Gregory Shellenbarger, David H. SchoellhamerIntegrating terrestrial LiDAR and stereo photogrammetry to map the Tolay lakebed in northern San Francisco Bay
The Tolay Creek Watershed drains approximately 3,520 ha along the northern edge of San Francisco Bay. Surrounded by a mosaic of open space conservation easements and public wildlife areas, it is one of the only watersheds in this urbanized estuary that is protected from its headwaters to the bay. Tolay Lake is a seasonal, spring-fed lake found in the upper watershed that historically extended overAuthorsIsa Woo, Storesund, John Y. Takekawa, Rachel J. Gardiner, EhretHome range, habitat selection, and movements of California Black Rails at tidal marshes at San Francisco Bay, California
Little is known about the movements and habitat selection of California Black Rails (Laterallus jamaicensis coturniculus) in coastal California. We captured 130 Black Rails, of which we radio-marked 48, in tidal marshes in San Francisco Bay during 2005 and 2006. Our objective was to examine their home ranges, movements, and habitat selection to improve the species' conservation. The mean fixed-kerAuthorsDanika C. Tsao, John Y. Takekawa, Isa Woo, Julie L. Yee, Jules G. EvensPotential effects of mercury on threatened California black rails
San Francisco Bay (SFB) estuary sediments contain high levels of mercury (Hg), and tidal marsh resident species may be vulnerable to Hg contamination. We examined Hg concentrations in California black rails, a threatened waterbird species that inhabits SFB tidal salt marshes. We captured 127 black rails during the prebreeding and postbreeding seasons and examined the influence of site, sex, and yeAuthorsDanika C. Tsao, A. Keith Miles, John Y. Takekawa, Isa WooCan nutrients alone shift a sedge meadow towards dominance by the invasive Typha × glauca
Where wetlands receive urban runoff, Typha spp. and other invasive plants often displace the native vegetation. We tested the ability of nutrients (N and P) to increase vegetative growth of T. × glauca(a hybrid of T. latifolia and T. angustifolia). In the greenhouse, 17 treatments revealed that T. × glauca required both N and P for growth, and total leaf length was most stimulated where a higher pAuthorsIsa Woo, Joy B. Zedler - News