(Photo Credit: College of Marin)

Purpose:
It is difficult to restore or maintain a system when you do not know how that system works. This is a problem faced by land managers and scientists when planning conservation and restoration of tidal marshes in the Bay Area. Our knowledge of many aspects of the tidal marsh ecosystem is growing rapidly, but much of the ecology of the resident wildlife remains unknown.

This project tackles one important gap in our knowledge of how marsh plants and animals interact with one another in the food web. We focused particularly on the food webs leading up to top resident carnivores in the marsh -- Song Sparrows and fish. Top carnivores are the species most likely to accumulate contaminants present in their food and most likely to become threatened or endangered.

The goal of this project is to use stable-isotopes of carbon and nitrogen as chemical tracers to take a snap shot of the spring/summer tidal marsh food web. This information about feeding relationships will enable improved management of marshes to reduce contaminant flows through the food web into key wildlife species and will allow better assessment of the functioning of restored marshes.

Primary Contact for the Project:
J. Letitia Grenier
Phone: (510) 746-7334
Email: letitia@sfei.org

Secondary Contact for the Project:
Josh Collins
Phone: (510) 746-7334
Email: josh@sfei.org