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San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission

An online decision support tool for managers, planners, conservation practitioners and scientists.The models generating these maps are the first to take into account the ability of marshes to accrete, or keep up with, rising sea levels, in the San Francisco Bay Estuary.PRBO has generated a series of scenarios to provide a range of projections to address the uncertainty in future rates of sea-level rise and suspended sediment availability.Our maps cover the entire Estuary allowing for analyses at multiple spatial scales.This tool displays maps created at a high spatial resolution using the best available elevation data. The website will be continually updated as new data becomes availableThe tool is the first to...
Conservation priority maps based on combined bird species current and projected abundance and distribution, updated with new model with improved inputs.Point Blue Conservation Science is currently assessing the effects of sea-level rise (SLR) and salinity changes on San Francisco Bay tidal marsh ecosystems. Tidal marshes are naturally resilient to SLR, in that they can build up elevation through the capture of suspended sediment and deposition of organic material (vegetation). Thus, a “bathtub” model approach is not appropriate for assessing impacts to this dynamic habitat. Rather, dynamic accretion potential can be modeled annually based on tidal inundation, sediment availability, and the rate of organic accumulation...
Priority areas for conservation of tidal marsh birds given current and future environmental conditions. Maps were created using Zonation, a spatial conservation planning software tool that can take into account multiple species and scenarios to create a hierarchical prioritization of the landscape.The current (2010) and future (2030-2110) prioritization is based upon distribution and abundance models for five tidal marsh bird species which utilized avian observation data (2000 - 2009), a marsh accretion model, and physical variables (e.g. salinity, distance to nearest channel, slope, etc). Values represent the rank in which pixels were removed from the landscape using Zonation Conservation Planning software with...
Marsh accretion was modeled by ESA PWA using the Marsh-98 model, described here. The model assumes that rates of marsh plain elevation change depend on the availability of suspended sediment and organic material, water depth, and duration of inundation periods. If enough suspended sediment is available, then tidal marsh elevations can keep pace with increased inundation. Model outputs were linearly interpolated in 10-cm increments for starting elevations ranging from -3.7 to 1.7 m (relative to mean higher high water, or MHHW), and applied to a composite 5-m elevation grid (see below) for SF Bay. Results for each possible combination of projected sea level rise, sediment and organic material availability, and target...
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