Natural History Wanderings

Our Speaker — Dr. Nathan Van Schmidt Thursday, June 20 (7pm)Online via Zoom

California experienced rapid and widespread destruction and modification of natural hydrological ecosystems and wetlands after the Gold Rush, including the loss of nearly all tidal wetlands in San Francisco Bay, many of which were converted to commercial salt production ponds.

The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project is now restoring large swaths of tidal marsh habitat, but they are faced with a new dilemma: many bird species that had used wetlands lost or degraded elsewhere in California, including the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada, have come to use the salt ponds as accidental habitat.