San Francisco Estuary
EcoAtlas, Historical View
Type: Extent of habitat (i.e., area of habitat
and whether there has been a decline).
Category: Submerged, Intertidal, Wetland, and Upland
Cost: ~$150,000 cash, $200,000 in-kind services
(~600,000 acres)
Description: As the process to establish regional
wetland habitat goals (see Bay Area Wetlands Ecosystem Goals Project)
was being established, it was recognized that this effort would
require a stronger understanding of historical conditions in the
region than currently existed. An approach was developed to gather,
integrate, and interpret diverse historical data sources through
a broad-based Historical Ecology Project. The development of this
new level of historical understanding of the region's habitats
and species became an important part of the Goals Project.
Outcome: As with the development of the Modern View
of the EcoAtlas, the development of the Historical View built
a greater shared understanding of ecosystem change among scientists
with fairly independent careers focused on different taxa. This
was a time-intensive effort which took several years, but which
recovered a tremendous amount of basic information about the ecosystem
which became the basis for project recommendations, as well as
contributing to a broader understanding and appreciation of the
region.
Contact: Robin Grossinger, M.S., San Francisco
Estuary Institute, (510) 231-5742, robin@sfei.org
Citations: Baylands Ecosystem Habitat Goals
Report, available at (510) 622-2465 or
www.sfei.org
Bay Area EcoAtlas maps, available at
www.sfei.org
Grossinger, R, 2001. "Documenting Local Landscape Change: the
San Francisco Bay Area Historical Ecology Project," in Egan, D.
and E. Howell, editors, The Historical Ecology Handbook: a Restorationist's
Guide to Reference Ecosystems, Island Press, Washington D.C
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