Peninsula Watershed Historical Ecology Study
Nestled in the rugged coastal mountains between San Francisco and Silicon Valley lies one of the ecological treasures of the San Francisco Bay Area: the Peninsula Watershed. Home to mountain lions, marbled murrelets, towering old-growth Douglas-firs, and an immense diversity of other plants and animals, the Peninsula Watershed is a unique and wild expanse of open space just minutes from one of the most urbanized parts of California.
While the watershed has remained largely undeveloped and is managed to protect natural and cultural resources, changes in disturbance regimes and other large-scale anthropogenic modifications over the past 250 years have altered vegetation dynamics and changed the distribution and structure of vegetation communities, raising many questions about the historical ecology of the watershed. The Peninsula Watershed Historical Ecology Study aims to advance understanding of landscape conditions of the Peninsula Watershed prior to major Euro-American modification, and to provide insights into the nature and drivers of vegetation change since the first Spanish explorers set foot in the watershed 250 years ago.
Purchase a printed copy of the report: $39.95 from Amazon.
Dates:
2017 to 2021
Partners:
Associated Staff:
Programs and Focus Areas:
Resilient Landscapes Program
Historical Ecology
Terrestrial Ecology
Related Projects, News, and Events:
Managing Open Space in Support of Net Zero (Project)
Protecting carbon stocks and increasing carbon sequestration can support climate change mitigation and maintain healthy, resilient ecosystems. To support SFPUC managers in making informed carbon management decisions, the Alameda Watershed Carbon Assessment offers scientific guidance on the watershed’s current and potential performance as a natural climate solution. This assessment was framed by two main objectives: to quantify current carbon stocks in the Alameda Watershed, and to evaluate opportunities to enhance carbon sequestration in its vegetation and soils.
Santa Clara Valley Water District Priority D5 Project's Watershed Condition Assessments (2010 to present) (Project)
https://www.valleywater.org/project-updates/2012-d5-ecological-data-collection-and-analysisSFEI and the Santa Clara Valley Water District's (Valley Water) Priority D-5 Project have been conducting baseline ecological condition assessments in Santa Clara County, CA to characterize the distribution and abundance of stream and wetlands in five major watersheds, and to assess the overall ecological conditions of streams in the watersheds based on the California Rapic Assessment Method for streams (CRAM). The surveys employ the state's recommended Wetland and Riparian Area Monitoring Plan's watershed aproach that includes the use of GIS-base maps of aquatice resources (BAARI), and spatially-balanced ambient stream condition surveys using CRAM.