Abstract
The San Francisco Bay Estuary (SFBE) is the second largest estuary in the United States, encompassing approximately 4,145 km2 (1600 mi2) and draining about 40% (155,400 km2; 60,000 mi2) of the State of California through the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, which pass through the San Francisco Bay-Delta to the Pacific Ocean. The SFBE has perhaps suffered the most extensive degradation of any estuary in the United States. Many years of diking, draining, filling, pollution, and introduction of alien species have taken a great toll on the ecosystem. Although 80% of the tidal salt marshes have been lost, many of the remaining marshes are now protected, and there are large-scale restoration efforts under way to return salt evaporation ponds, agricultural areas, and some urban areas back to tidal wetlands. The SFBE was designated as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in 2013.
References
Armor C, Baxter R, Bennett B, Breuer R, Chotkowski M, Coulston P, Denton D, Herbold B, Larsen K, Nobriga M, Rose K, Sommer T, Stacey M. 2005. Interagency ecological program synthesis of 2005 work to evaluate the pelagic organism decline (POD) in the upper San Francisco Estuary. 2005.
Bennett WA. Critical assessment of the delta smelt population in the San Francisco Estuary, California. San Franc Estuar Watershed Sci. 2005;3:1–71.
Berthold P, Møller AP, Fiedler W. Preface. In: Møller A, Berthold P, Fiedler, editors. Birds and climate change, Advances in ecological research, vol. 35. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press; 2004. p. vii.
California State Coastal Conservancy and Ocean Protection Council, et al. San Francisco Bay Subtidal Habitat Goals Project 2010.
Cohen A. An introduction to the San Francisco Bay, save the Bay, San Francisco Estuary project, San Francisco Estuary Institute. 2000. p 4.
Moyle PB. Inland fishes of California. Revised and expanded. Berkeley: University of California Press; 2002. p. 230.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Letter from the national oceanic and atmospheric administration to the United States Fish & Wildlife Service regarding the South Bay salt pond restoration project. 2008. http://www.southbayrestoration.org/pdf_files/Comment%20Letters/NOAA_FEIS_SBSP0001.pdf. Last accessed 21 Jan 2015.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Report on the subtidal habitats and associated biological taxa in San Francisco Bay. 2007. p. 13.
National Park Service. A climate of contrasts. 2009. http://www.nps.gov/prsf/naturescience/climate.htm. Last accessed 21 Jan 2015.
Nelson N. Shellmounds of the San Francisco Bay region. Berkeley: University Press; 1909.
North American Waterfowl Management Plan. United States Fish & Wildlife Service, Canadian Wildlife Service, Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales. 2004. p 15.
North Bay Water Reuse Authority. North San Pablo Bay restoration and reuse project engineering and economic/financial analysis report. 2009. http://www.nbwra.org/docs/pdfs/NBWRP_Draft_Phase3_section3_part1of2.pdf. Last accessed 21 Jan 2015.
Olofson PR. Baylands ecosystem habitat goals project. Baylands ecosystem species and community profiles: life histories and environmental requirements of key plants, fish, and wildlife. Prepared by the San Francisco Bay Area Wetlands Ecosystem Goals Project. San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, Oakland; 2000. p. 309.
Port of Oakland. About us: revenue division. http://www.portofoakland.com/portnyou/overview.asp. Last accessed 8 Oct 2009.
PRBO Conservation Science and the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture. The state of the birds San Francisco Bay. 2011.
Rogers P. San Francisco Bay’s last commercial fishery closes. Silicon Valley Mercury News. September, 5 2009. http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-living/ci_13278722. Last accessed 21 Jan 2015.
San Francisco Bay Area Census. 2010. http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/bayarea.htm. Last accessed 21 Jan 2015.
San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. 2009.
San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. San Francisco Bay Estuary. http://www.bcdc.ca.gov/bay_estuary.shtml. Last accessed 21 Jan 2015.
San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. San Francisco Bay Plan. San Francisco. 2008. p. 64.
San Francisco Bay Joint Venture. Climate adaptation decision support analysis. 2015, unpublished.
San Francisco Estuary Partnership. The State of San Francisco Bay. Oakland. 2011.
Save the Bay. Greening the Bay – financing wetland restoration in San Francisco Bay. Oakland. 2007; p. 7.
SF Bay Joint Venture. Implementation plan, restoring the estuary 2001, Baylands ecosystem habitat goals project 2000.
Sloan D. Geology of the San Francisco Bay region. Berkeley: University of California Press; 2006. p. 134.
South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. Project description. 2009. http://www.southbayrestoration.org/Project_Description.html. Last accessed 21 Jan 2015.
Stenzel L, Hickey C, Kjelmyr J, Page G. Abundance and distribution of shorebirds in the San Francisco Bay Area. West Birds. 2002;33:1.
Sutula M, Collins JN, Clark R, Roberts C, Stein E, Grosso C, Wiskind A, Solek S, May M, O’Connor K, Fetscher E, Grenier JL, Pearce S, Robinson A, Clark C, Rey K, Morrissette S, Eicher A, Pasquinelli R, Ritter K. California’s wetland demonstration program pilot – a final report to the California resources agency. Southern California coastal water research project, technical report 572. Costa Mesa. 2008.
The Bay Institute. Ecological scorecard San Francisco Bay index. Novato: The Bay Institute; 2003.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Goals project. Baylands ecosystem habitat goals. A report of habitat recommendations prepared by the San Francisco Bay area wetlands ecosystem goals project, San Francisco/S.F. Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, Oakland. Inside front cover. 1999.
United States Fish & Wildlife Service. Recovery plan for tidal marsh ecosystems of Northern and Central California. 2013. http://www.fws.gov/sacramento/ES/Recovery-Planning/Tidal-Marsh/es_recovery_tidal-marsh-recovery.htm
United States Fish & Wildlife Service. Salt marsh harvest mouse and California clapper rail recovery plan. Portland; 1984. p. 44.
Western Regional Climate Center. San Francisco Bay area climate summaries. 2009. http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/summary/climsmsfo.html. Last accessed 21 Jan 2015.
Wood J, Page G, Reiter M, Liu L, Robinson-Nilsen C. Abundance and distribution of wintering shorebirds in San Franciso Bay, 1990–2008: population change and informing future monitoring. Grant # 2009–0179: San Francisco Bay shorebird analysis. Resources Legacy Fund. Sacramento. 2010.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
Huning, B., Perlmutter, M. (2018). San Francisco Bay Estuary (USA). In: Finlayson, C., Milton, G., Prentice, R., Davidson, N. (eds) The Wetland Book. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4001-3_214
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4001-3_214
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4000-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4001-3
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences