Ecology Final Paper
This paper was written for my ecology class I took during the summer. The paper is about the affects of the change of salt flats to marsh land. This was an interesting piece of work because it was something that was happening in the Bay Area.
Joshua Mandanas
7/22/12
Ecology
The Bay Area salt flats are currently being changed to wetlands. The change from slat flats to wetlands already has support from dozens of biologists and Fish and Game. The salts flats where once cutting off the Bay Areas ecosystems are now being connected. There a couple problems with the changing the salt flats to wetlands. There are some animals that are threatened, the snowy plovers for example, nest on the salt flats because they are similar to their usual nesting spots, beaches, but with fewer dogs and people. The question is now how will fill the salt flats affect the environment already there wildlife.
How will filling the salt flats affect threatened spices like the snowy plovers? There has been a lot of talk concerning snowy plovers and how they have found a liking to the salt flats because it is similar to there natural nesting grounds except that there are fewer predators. The reason that the snowy plover are endangered is that it has a poor reproductive because of human disturbance predation, and inclement weather, combined with permanent or long-term loss of nesting to habitat to encroachment of invasive spices. Human activates play a large role in why the snowy plover is threatened activates like jogging and walking dogs. The nesting of the snowy plover is around March through September where humans have the most activity on beaches of the West Coast. Constant invasion of there nesting grounds forces them to abandon the nest grounds and relocate indefinitely.
The Snowy Plovers are important part of the ecosystem in the Bay Area because they feed on beach hoppers and piles of seaweed. This is important because it helps controls the population of beach hoppers and helps keep control of the seaweed build up on the beaches. If the snowy plovers did happen to go extinct then beaches would be filled with seaweed and beach hoppers. It would also cause a large imbalance in the ecosystem.
Wetlands have many benefits to the environments the first benefit they have is that they are able to protect water quality by trapping sediments and by holding extra nutrients and other pollinates. These functions are very important when the wetland is connected to other water sources like lakes and rivers which are commonly used as sources for fresh water. Another benefit that wetlands have is that they naturally able to filter Sediments, nutrients, and toxic chemicals which enter the wetland through runoffs in to the wetland with out this natural filter there would be more toxins in our fresh water systems. Wetlands are able to filter the toxins and hold them in rock sediments Wetlands are also able to help with flood prevention because most wetlands are able to hold runoff from floods and releasing it slowly. The size and location are the largest factors of determining the effectiveness of slowing down the flood. The third benefit of having is that wetlands naturally can contain wildlife many species of fish, birds, mammals and reptiles. Wetlands can also be a stop for migrating birds depending on the wetland location.
When the wetlands do come back they will connect most of the Bay Areas wetlands together creating more beaches and a larger environment which allows different spices to interact. Another plus of connecting wetlands is that there will be larger barrier for floods and a larger “filter” which allows for more fresh water to be more available around the Bay Area. Biologists expect fish and birds to start investigating the new habitat immediately and full restoration to be complete in a decade.
The restoration of the Bay Area wetlands is important for the Bay Area ecosystem because it connects parts of the Bay Area that were once isolated are now being connected which allows same spices to have a larger gene pool. This is important for the ecosystem because if there is a larger diversity there is a lower chance of species going extinct.
Joshua Mandanas
7/22/12
Ecology
The Bay Area salt flats are currently being changed to wetlands. The change from slat flats to wetlands already has support from dozens of biologists and Fish and Game. The salts flats where once cutting off the Bay Areas ecosystems are now being connected. There a couple problems with the changing the salt flats to wetlands. There are some animals that are threatened, the snowy plovers for example, nest on the salt flats because they are similar to their usual nesting spots, beaches, but with fewer dogs and people. The question is now how will fill the salt flats affect the environment already there wildlife.
How will filling the salt flats affect threatened spices like the snowy plovers? There has been a lot of talk concerning snowy plovers and how they have found a liking to the salt flats because it is similar to there natural nesting grounds except that there are fewer predators. The reason that the snowy plover are endangered is that it has a poor reproductive because of human disturbance predation, and inclement weather, combined with permanent or long-term loss of nesting to habitat to encroachment of invasive spices. Human activates play a large role in why the snowy plover is threatened activates like jogging and walking dogs. The nesting of the snowy plover is around March through September where humans have the most activity on beaches of the West Coast. Constant invasion of there nesting grounds forces them to abandon the nest grounds and relocate indefinitely.
The Snowy Plovers are important part of the ecosystem in the Bay Area because they feed on beach hoppers and piles of seaweed. This is important because it helps controls the population of beach hoppers and helps keep control of the seaweed build up on the beaches. If the snowy plovers did happen to go extinct then beaches would be filled with seaweed and beach hoppers. It would also cause a large imbalance in the ecosystem.
Wetlands have many benefits to the environments the first benefit they have is that they are able to protect water quality by trapping sediments and by holding extra nutrients and other pollinates. These functions are very important when the wetland is connected to other water sources like lakes and rivers which are commonly used as sources for fresh water. Another benefit that wetlands have is that they naturally able to filter Sediments, nutrients, and toxic chemicals which enter the wetland through runoffs in to the wetland with out this natural filter there would be more toxins in our fresh water systems. Wetlands are able to filter the toxins and hold them in rock sediments Wetlands are also able to help with flood prevention because most wetlands are able to hold runoff from floods and releasing it slowly. The size and location are the largest factors of determining the effectiveness of slowing down the flood. The third benefit of having is that wetlands naturally can contain wildlife many species of fish, birds, mammals and reptiles. Wetlands can also be a stop for migrating birds depending on the wetland location.
When the wetlands do come back they will connect most of the Bay Areas wetlands together creating more beaches and a larger environment which allows different spices to interact. Another plus of connecting wetlands is that there will be larger barrier for floods and a larger “filter” which allows for more fresh water to be more available around the Bay Area. Biologists expect fish and birds to start investigating the new habitat immediately and full restoration to be complete in a decade.
The restoration of the Bay Area wetlands is important for the Bay Area ecosystem because it connects parts of the Bay Area that were once isolated are now being connected which allows same spices to have a larger gene pool. This is important for the ecosystem because if there is a larger diversity there is a lower chance of species going extinct.