HR: 16:40h
AN: OS34B-02    [Abstracts]
TI: Paleoecological Perspectives on Tidal Marsh Degradation at Elkhorn Slough, California
AU: * Watson, E B
EM: bethw@socrates.berkeley.edu
AF: Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, United States
AU: Wasson, K
EM: research@elkhornslough.org
AF: Department of Ecology and Evoluationary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, United States
AU: Wasson, K
EM: research@elkhornslough.org
AF: Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, P.O. Box 267, Moss Landing, CA 95039, United States
AU: Woolfolk, A
EM: woolfolk@elkhornslough.org
AF: Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, P.O. Box 267, Moss Landing, CA 95039, United States
AU: Van Dyke, E
EM: vandyke@elkhornslough.org
AF: Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, P.O. Box 267, Moss Landing, CA 95039, United States
AB: Elkhorn Slough is the second largest area of estuarine tidal wetlands in California, and one of the first U.S. estuarine sanctuaries. Region-wide, 90% of historic tidal wetlands have been lost or restricted from tidal flow due to diking for agricultural use, salt pond construction, and development. However, wetland loss at Elkhorn Slough is currently being driven largely by tidal erosion, and the subsequent expansion of tidal channels and shoreline recession. This study reports on the use of paleoecological analyses to support and inform current restoration and conservation activities at Elkhorn Slough. Analyses of three sediment cores for fossil pollen, organic content, accretion rates, and the removal and stratigraphic description of twelve additional cores have established the timing of marsh establishment, current and prehistoric estuarine salinity, wetland plant abundance and distributions, and the relative contributions of mineral and organic sediment to wetland sediment accumulation. By understanding prehistoric processes and conditions and past variability more thoroughly, managers will be able to evaluate conservation, restoration, and management alternatives in a more informed fashion.
DE: 0442 Estuarine and nearshore processes (4235)
DE: 0473 Paleoclimatology and paleoceanography (3344, 4900)
DE: 0485 Science policy (6620)
DE: 0497 Wetlands (1890)
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly