This project aims to quantify the impacts of common reed (Phragmites) invasion on community structure and ecosystem function during early stages of tidal restoration in wetlands. The study will focus on the Tule Red Tidal Restoration site in Suisun Marsh. The research aims to produce a conceptual model that will describe habitat structure, invertebrate communities, and predator use of wetlands affected by Phragmites invasion. The conceptual model resulting from this study will guide future predictions of wetland response to invasion and to develop mitigation strategies. Data collected will also support food web models and the understanding of invasive plants as stressors, as well as foster translational science to the management community.
The California Recreational Fisheries Survey (CRFS) mission is to collect fishery-dependent data on California's marine recreational fisheries, and to accurately estimate catch and effort in a time frame and on a scale that meets management needs. CRFS collects the data necessary to estimate catch and effort for California's diverse recreational finfish fisheries which range from the California-Mexico border to the California-Oregon border extending over 1,100 miles of coast and is surveyed at over 400 sampling sites. Annually, CRFS conducts over 7,000 sampling assignments and contacts over 68,000 fishing parties. High sampling rates produce confidence in estimates with a 20 percent sample rate of private boat anglers during salmon or groundfish seasons. CRFS collects the data to produce the estimates for all sport-caught finfish.
The overarching AIS goal is that "Risks of aquatic invasive species invasions are substantially reduced, and their economic, ecological, and human health impacts are minimized. This goal is addressed through a series of performance and workload measures. The AIS Program provides funding for Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinators for each Region within the Service and their respective aquatic nuisance species activities. These coordinators work closely with the public and private sector to develop and implement invasive species projects. One of the primary initiatives of the program is the prevention of invasive species via boats through the "100th Meridian Initiative" (overseen by individual AIS regional coordinators). This initiative aims to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species by boats personal watercraft and other pathways. Through boat inspections and boaters assessments along the 100th meridian, partners can learn how to prevent the spread of zebra mussels and other AIS via transport of boats and personal watercraft.
The Environmental Monitoring Program (EMP) began in 1975 to conduct baseline and compliance monitoring of water quality, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and benthic invertebrates in the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary. This monitoring program was designed to track the impact of water diversions to the State Water Project (SWP) and Central Valley Project (CVP) on the Bay-Delta. In the decades since, EMP scientists have monitored these constituents at fixed and floating stations throughout the estuary and ensured compliance with state and federal mandates such as Water Right Decision 1641 (D-1641). In the years and decades since its inception, EMP has become one of the cornerstones for scientists' and managers' understanding of the pace and pattern of change in this critical ecosystem. By sampling water quality and biological communities concurrently, EMP has created a dataset that is uniquely useful in better understanding causal connections between physical, biological, and biogeochemical processes.
The Delta Juvenile Fish Monitoring Program (DJFMP) has monitored natural-origin and hatchery-origin juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and other fish species within the San Francisco Estuary (SFE) since 1976 using a combination of midwater trawls and beach seines. Since 2000, three trawl sites and at least 58 beach seine sites have been sampled weekly or biweekly within the SFE and lower Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. The main objectives of the DJFMP are: 1. Document the long-term abundance and distribution of juvenile Chinook Salmon in the Delta. 2. Comprehensively monitor throughout the year to document the presence of all races of juvenile Chinook Salmon. 3. Intensively monitor juvenile Chinook salmon during the fall and winter months for use in managing water project operations (Delta Cross Channel gates and water export levels) on a real-time basis. 4. Document the abundance and distribution of Steelhead. 5. Document the abundance and distribution of non-salmonid species.
Invasive aquatic vegetation (IAV) is widespread in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) and its change in coverage has been mapped at the species level using spectroscopy data collected once a year, from 2004 to 2008 and from 2014 to 2019. There was no funding to conduct a similar mapping campaign in 2020. This work aims to collect and analyze imagery in summer of 2020 to fulfill two main objectives. First is to inform the monitoring framework for aquatic vegetation put forth for the Interagency Ecological Program (IEP). Comparing spring and fall imagery of 2019 and the summer imagery of 2020, the project will evaluate which time period is ideal for optimal mapping of aquatic vegetation considering the logistical challenges of airborne imagery acquisition and the phenology of the species being mapped. The project will also contrast the pros and cons of the 3 proposed scenarios in the IEP monitoring framework: 1) two hyperspectral acquisitions a year (2019; “best case” scenario), 2) one acquisition a year (2020, “moderate” scenario) and 3) satellite data based monitoring (the Sentinel-2 study, “bare bones” scenario). The second objective of the project is to determine if the new treatment framework (new herbicide formulations and application schedules) is effective in controlling the old (Brazilian waterweed, water hyacinth) and newly added target weed species (water primrose, alligator weed) in the Delta ecosystem.
The Wetland Regional Monitoring Program (WRMP) Fish and Fish Habitat Monitoring project is a collaborative effort to track biological responses to tidal wetland restoration in the San Francisco Estuary. Monthly sampling is conducted across a network of benchmark, reference, and project restoration sites in the South Bay and North Bay, with the goal of evaluating how wetland restoration influences fish assemblages, habitat use, and ecological condition.
The study uses primarily otter trawls to monitor fish and macroinvertebrate communities. Standardized field methods align with those used in long-term monitoring programs to ensure comparability and data integration across regions. Environmental data, including water temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen, are collected in tandem with biological sampling to assess habitat quality and seasonal dynamics.
The program addresses WRMP Guiding Question #4: How do policies, programs, and projects to protect and restore tidal marshes affect the distribution, abundance, and health of fish and wildlife? The data support adaptive management, regulatory compliance, and science-based restoration planning by identifying key habitats, tracking restoration performance, and detecting regional patterns in species composition and abundance over time.
