Natural History Wanderings

October 13th, THURSDAY, 7:30pm   Speaker: Peter Baye

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The historic native shore and wetland flora of San Francisco was a casualty of uncontrolled rapid development in the 19th and 20th centuries, pushing the filled bay and ocean shore outward. Now, forecasted sea level rise is forcing re-engineering of shorelines facing erosion and rising groundwater, and “green infrastructure” with “living shoreline” approaches are at the forefront of environmental planning. Can ecological restoration and plant reintroduction opportunities be integrated to serve sea level rise adaptation needs? Peter Baye, coastal ecologist and botanist will discuss examples of native beach, dune and salt marsh species that were nearly extirpated, which may find new managed niches and eco-engineering roles for sediment management of the 21st- century San Francisco coastline.