Sea change under climate change: case studies in rare plant conservation from the dynamic San Francisco Estuary

Brenda J. Grewell; Erin K. Espeland; Peggy L. Fiedler

doi:10.1139/cjb-2012-0300

Sea change under climate change: case studies in rare plant conservation from the dynamic San Francisco Estuary

Botany ◽

10.1139/cjb-2012-0300 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 91 (5) ◽

pp. 309-318 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Brenda J. Grewell ◽

Erin K. Espeland ◽

Peggy L. Fiedler

Keyword(s):

Sea Level Rise ◽

Case Studies ◽

Sea Level ◽

San Francisco ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Plant Conservation ◽

San Francisco Estuary ◽

Perennial Herb ◽

Suitable Habitat ◽

Rare Plant

We present case studies supporting management of two rare plant species in tidal wetlands of the San Francisco Estuary. We used empirical demographic analyses to identify factors to enhance population establishment and survival of Chloropyron molle subsp. molle (Orobancaceae), an annual hemiparasite, and to compare reintroduced with natural populations. Twelve years after outplanting, the reintroduced population persists but is in decline; impediments to success include the lack of adaptive management response to weed invasions and muted variance in hydrology. Transplantation of Lilaeopsis masonii (Apiaceae), a rhizomatous perennial herb, failed to meet success criteria for mitigation at local project scale, but dispersal and establishment of metapopulation patches indicated persistence at the landscape scale. This species has been found to be genetically indistinct from a widespread congener, and has few threats to persistence so long as suitable habitat is present. These two examples demonstrate the need for integrated conservation management strategies that prioritize habitat connectivity and maintain physical processes to support dispersal in response to sea level rise. For the hemiparasite, assisted colonization may sustain populations threatened by sea level rise, but only if a strong commitment to effective stewardship is realized.

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Marsh Madness: Restoring Tidal Wetlands in Our Estuaries

Frontiers for Young Minds ◽

10.3389/frym.2021.607674 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Stacy Sherman ◽

Rosemary Hartman

Keyword(s):

Natural Disasters ◽

Shallow Water ◽

Sea Level Rise ◽

Sea Level ◽

Fresh Water ◽

San Francisco ◽

San Francisco Estuary ◽

Tidal Wetlands ◽

Safe Place

Just like people, fish need a safe place to find food and grow up. For fish that travel between fresh water and the ocean, tidal wetlands are a perfect neighborhood, with lots of habitat and food. Tidal wetlands are areas of shallow water where tides from the ocean cover the land with water every day. Besides providing a home for fish and water-loving plants, tidal wetlands also help protect people and their property from natural disasters like storms, and from sea-level rise. People have not always understood the value of wetlands, so billions of acres of them have been filled to farm or build on. In the San Francisco Estuary, more than 90% of wetlands were converted to other uses in <150 years! People now understand why wetlands are important, so protecting and restoring wetlands is a top priority.

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Ecological Effects of Climate-Driven Salinity Variation in the San Francisco Estuary: Can We Anticipate and Manage the Coming Changes?

San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science ◽

10.15447/sfews.2021v19iss2art3 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Cameron Ghalambor ◽

◽

Edwin Grosholtz ◽

Edward Gross ◽

Kenneth Jeffries ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sea Level Rise ◽

Sea Level ◽

San Francisco ◽

San Francisco Estuary ◽

Ecological Impacts ◽

Salt Intrusion ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Resource Managers ◽

Precipitation Regimes

Climate change-driven sea level rise and altered precipitation regimes are predicted to alter patterns of salt intrusion within the San Francisco Estuary. A central question is: Can we use existing knowledge and future projections to predict and manage the anticipated ecological impacts? This was the subject of a 2018 symposium entitled “Ecological and Physiological Impacts of Salinization of Aquatic Systems from Human Activities.” The symposium brought together an inter-disciplinary group of scientists and researchers, resource managers, and policy-makers. Here, we summarize and review the presentations and discussions that arose during the symposium. From a historical perspective, salt intrusion has changed substantially over the past 10,000 years as a result of changing climate patterns, with additional shifts from recent anthropogenic effects. Current salinity patterns in the San Francisco Estuary are driven by a suite of hydrodynamic processes within the given contexts of water management and geography. Based on climate projections for the coming century, significant changes are expected in the processes that determine the spatial and temporal patterns of salinity. Given that native species—including fishes such as the Delta Smelt and Sacramento Splittail—track favorable habitats, exhibit physiological acclimation, and can adaptively evolve, we present a framework for assessing their vulnerability to altered salinity in the San Francisco Estuary. We then present a range of regulatory and structural management tools that are available to control patterns of salinity within the San Francisco Estuary. Finally, we identify major research priorities that can help fill critical gaps in our knowledge about future salinity patterns and the consequences of climate change and sea level rise. These research projects will be most effective with strong linkages and communication between scientists and researchers, resource managers, and policy-makers.

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Adapting to sea level rise: Emerging governance issues in the San Francisco Bay Region

10.31230/osf.io/mjkcu ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Pedro J. Pinto ◽

G. Mathias Kondolf ◽

Pun Lok Raymond Wong

Keyword(s):

Sea Level Rise ◽

Sea Level ◽

San Francisco ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Path Dependence ◽

Large Scale ◽

San Francisco Bay ◽

Metropolitan Region ◽

Environmental Benefit ◽

Formidable Challenge

San Francisco Bay, the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast of North America, is heavily encroached by a metropolitan region with over 7 million inhabitants. Urban development and infrastructure, much of which built over landfill and at the cost of former baylands, were placed at very low elevations. Sea-level rise (SLR) poses a formidable challenge to these highly exposed urban areas and already stressed natural systems. “Green”, or ecosystem-based, adaptation is already on the way around the Bay. Large scale wetland restoration projects have already been concluded, and further action now often requires articulation with the reinforcement of flood defense structures, given the level of urban encroachment. While levee setback, or removal, would provide greater environmental benefit, the need to protect urban areas and infrastructure has led to the trial of ingenious solutions for promoting wetland resilience while upgrading the level of protection granted by levees.We analyzed the Bay’s environmental governance and planning structure, through direct observation, interviews with stakeholders, and study of planning documents and projects. We present two cases where actual implementation of SLR adaptation has led, or may lead to, the need to revise standards & practices or to make uneasy choices between conflicting public interests.Among the region’s stakeholders, there is an increasing awareness of the risks related to SLR, but the institutional arrangements are complex, and communication between the different public agencies/departments is not always as streamlined as it could be. Some agencies and departments need to adapt their procedures in order to remove institutional barriers to adaptation, but path dependence is an obstacle. There is evidence that more frank and regular communication between public actors is needed. It also emphasizes the benefits of a coordination of efforts and strategies, something that was eroded in the transition from government-led policies to a new paradigm of local-based adaptive governance.

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Changes in Liquefaction Severity in the San Francisco Bay Area with Sea-Level Rise

10.1061/9780784483695.030 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Alex R. R. Grant ◽

Anne M. Wein ◽

Kevin M. Befus ◽

Juliette Finzi Hart ◽

Mike T. Frame ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sea Level Rise ◽

Sea Level ◽

San Francisco ◽

San Francisco Bay ◽

San Francisco Bay Area ◽

Bay Area

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Mudflat Morphodynamics and the Impact of Sea Level Rise in South San Francisco Bay

Estuaries and Coasts ◽

10.1007/s12237-016-0129-6 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 40 (1) ◽

pp. 37-49 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Mick van der Wegen ◽

Bruce Jaffe ◽

Amy Foxgrover ◽

Dano Roelvink

Keyword(s):

Sea Level Rise ◽

Sea Level ◽

San Francisco ◽

San Francisco Bay ◽

The Impact

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Transgressivity in Key Functional Traits Rather Than Phenotypic Plasticity Promotes Stress Tolerance in A Hybrid Cordgrass

Plants ◽

10.3390/plants8120594 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (12) ◽

pp. 594

Author(s):

Blanca Gallego-Tévar ◽

Brenda J. Grewell ◽

Rebecca E. Drenovsky ◽

Jesús M. Castillo

Keyword(s):

Phenotypic Plasticity ◽

Sea Level Rise ◽

Stress Tolerance ◽

Sea Level ◽

San Francisco ◽

Functional Traits ◽

Salt Marshes ◽

Parental Species ◽

Expression Patterns ◽

Phenotypic Expression

Hybridization might promote offspring fitness via a greater tolerance to environmental stressors due to heterosis and higher levels of phenotypic plasticity. Thus, analyzing the phenotypic expression of hybrids provides an opportunity to elucidate further plant responses to environmental stress. In the case of coastal salt marshes, sea level rise subjects hybrids, and their parents, to longer tidal submergence and higher salinity. We analyzed the phenotypic expression patterns in the hybrid Spartina densiflora x foliosa relative to its parental species, native S. foliosa, and invasive S. densiflora, from the San Francisco Estuary when exposed to contrasting salinities and inundations in a mesocosm experiment. 37% of the recorded traits displayed no variability among parents and hybrids, 3% showed an additive inheritance, 37% showed mid-parent heterosis, 18% showed best-parent heterosis, and 5% presented worst-parent heterosis. Transgressivity, rather than phenotypic plasticity, in key functional traits of the hybrid, such as tiller height, conveyed greater stress tolerance to the hybrid when compared to the tolerance of its parents. As parental trait variability increased, phenotypic transgressivity of the hybrid increased and it was more important in response to inundation than salinity. Increases in salinity and inundation associated with sea level rise will amplify the superiority of the hybrid over its parental species. These results provide evidence of transgressive traits as an underlying source of adaptive variation that can facilitate plant invasions. The adaptive evolutionary process of hybridization is thought to support an increased invasiveness of plant species and their rapid evolution.

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Distribution and habitat of the critically endangered Capricorn Yellow Chat Epthianura crocea macgregori.

Pacific Conservation Biology ◽

10.1071/pc130039 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 39 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Wayne A Houston ◽

Robert L Black ◽

Rod J Elder

Keyword(s):

Sea Level Rise ◽

Sea Level ◽

Suitable Habitat ◽

Ecological Knowledge ◽

Tidal Influence ◽

Management Interventions ◽

Marine Sedimentation ◽

Foraging Preferences ◽

Pasture Grasses ◽

Baseline Information

The Capricorn Yellow Chat (Meliphagidae: Epthianura crocea macgregori) is a poorly known, endangered passerine of coastal north-eastern Australian wetlands. Recent research has highlighted the need for evidence based management and that recovery programmes may be hampered by a lack of sound ecological knowledge. Capricorn Yellow Chats were found at 15 sites near Rockhampton between Broad Sound and the Fitzroy River delta in the south. Overall, suitable habitat was limited with an area occupied of about 6 000 ha, confirming the need for careful management. Habitat may be typified as grass-sedge wetlands or tall supratidal saltmarshes that are temporarily flooded, with pools becoming brackish to hypersaline as they dry. Over 96% of sightings were on coastal plains formed by marine sedimentation processes, most without current tidal influence, and many less than 5 m above sea level. The remaining 4% were associated with alluvial-formed plains, but only where these bordered existing marine plain sites; suggesting a preference for marine plain habitats, possibly reflecting structural differences and foraging preferences (marine plains tend to be more open due to the presence of salt-tolerant samphire vegetation). Sea level rise was identified as a major threat to the subspecies with chat sightings at most sites averaging less than 2 m above current highest astronomical tidal influence, and sites becoming tidal or with regular storm surge influence under future modest predicted sea level rise scenarios of 0.5 m by 2100. Most sites had some form of banking to reduce tidal influence and promote freshwater pasture grasses for cattle production. The site supporting most chats had small banks that allowed floods to flow around them, maintaining connectivity with the downstream marine systems. This study contributes to baseline information essential to the evaluation of any future management interventions; thus avoiding the pitfalls hampering much of the global conservation efforts directed at threatened species.

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Compound Inundation Impacts of Coastal Climate Change: Sea-Level Rise, Groundwater Rise, and Coastal Precipitation

Water ◽

10.3390/w12102776 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (10) ◽

pp. 2776

Author(s):

Reyhaneh Rahimi ◽

Hassan Tavakol-Davani ◽

Cheyenne Graves ◽

Atalie Gomez ◽

Mohammadebrahim Fazel Valipour

Keyword(s):

Sea Level Rise ◽

Sea Level ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Two Dimensions ◽

Surface Flow ◽

Knowledge Gap ◽

Coastal Watershed ◽

Drainage Capacity ◽

Groundwater Rise ◽

Compound Effect

The importance of considering the compound effects of multiple hazards has increased in recent years due to their catastrophic impacts on human lives and property. Compound effects correspond to events with multiple concurrent or consecutive drivers, e.g., heavy storms, coastal flooding, high tides, and sea level rise (SLR). There is a recent evidence on inundation caused by SLR-driven groundwater rise, and there is a distinct knowledge gap in understanding the compound inundation effects of this phenomenon considering the important hydrologic and hydraulic considerations under compound events. To fill this knowledge gap, we developed a novel analytical framework to understand the movements of the surface flow under typical precipitation events considering their interaction with uprising groundwater and SLR in a coastal watershed located in Oakland Flatlands, CA, USA, home to several disadvantaged communities. This modelling approach simulates the dynamics of compound flooding in two dimensions of the earth surface in a fine resolution, which is critical for devising proper flood management strategies. The reason to focus on disadvantaged coastal communities is that such communities typically encounter disproportionate environmental injustices due to the lack of sufficient drainage capacity in their infrastructure. Our results show that by considering the compound effect of SLR, groundwater inundation and precipitation flooding, the drainage capacity of infrastructure will be substantially exceeded, such that over 700 acres of the built infrastructure could be flooded. This is a considerable increase compared to scenarios that do not consider compound effect, or scenarios that consider inappropriate combinations of driving factors. In sum, our results highlight the significance of considering compound effects in the coastal inundation analyses, with a particular emphasis on the role of groundwater rise.

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