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National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis

Project Description

The aim of this working group is to identify, analyze, and synthesize existing data on interactions between the near coastal ocean and the San Francisco Estuary with a non-exclusive focus on declining pelagic fishes. Substantial changes in the biological communities of San Francisco Bay may have occurred in response to a state change in the California Current system after 1998. The state change was characterized by increased upwelling, enhanced primary production, and strong southerly flow. These changes in the near coastal ocean were associated with increased biomass of phytoplankton, new seasonal phytoplankton blooms, declines in the distribution and abundance of bivalve mollusks, and high abundance of several predators of bivalves in San Francisco Bay. Processes in the near coastal ocean may have direct or indirect influences on abundance and survival of several fishes of management concern, including longfin smelt, striped bass, and possibly delta smelt. Changes in the near coastal ocean might also influence survival of outmigrating juvenile salmonids, including Chinook salmon and steelhead rainbow trout, as they enter the ocean. These results indicate that proper understanding and management of the San Francisco Estuary requires knowledge of ocean processes as well as riverine and internal estuarine processes. The working group will attempt to examine the relative influence of processes in the near coastal ocean on the fishes and other organisms in the San Francisco Estuary.

Principal Investigator(s)

Erica Fleishman

Project Dates

Start: December 8, 2008

End: January 11, 2010

completed

Participants

Larry R. Brown
US Geological Survey (USGS)
James E. Cloern
US Geological Survey (USGS)
Erica Fleishman
University of California, Santa Barbara
Paul Hershberger
US Geological Survey (USGS) Marrowstone Marine Field Station
Kathryn A. Hieb
California Department of Fish and Game
Teresa Jacobson
University of California, Santa Cruz
John L. Largier
University of California, Davis
Cynthia LeDoux-Bloom
California Department of Water Resources
Ricardo D. Lopez
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Jay Lund
University of California, Davis
Luis Francisco Madrinan
University of California, Santa Barbara
Wendy Meiring
University of California, Santa Barbara
Nadav Nur
Point Blue Conservation Science (formally Point Reyes Bird Observatory (PRBO))
Christine Petersen
University of California, Santa Barbara
William T. Peterson
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Thomas M. Powell
University of California, Berkeley
Bruno Sanso
University of California, Santa Cruz
Ted Sommer
California Department of Water Resources
Mark T. Stacey
University of California, Berkeley
Jan Thompson
US Geological Survey (USGS)
Monika Winder
University of California, Davis

Products

  1. Journal Article / 2010

    Biological communities in San Francisco Bay track large-scale climate forcing over the North Pacific