Suisun Marsh and UC Davis Fisheries Lab Tour

Wednesday, April 4th: Suisun Marsh Habitat Restoration and UC Davis Fisheries Lab Tour

Tour Coordinators: Paul Garrison, California Department of Water Resources; Lisa Thompson, UC Davis

Suisun Marsh is the largest contiguous brackish water marsh remaining on the west coast of North America and is a critical part of the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta (Bay-Delta) estuary ecosystem. The Marsh encompasses more than 10% of California’s remaining natural wetlands and provides important habitat for more than 221 bird species, 45 mammalian species, 16 reptile and amphibian species, and more than 40 fish species.

Over 60 UC Davis researchers are affiliated with CABA, the Center for Aquatic Biology and Aquaculture. UC Davis researchers work across a wide range of aquatic specialties, with results that inform the management of California ecosystems like the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Suisun Marsh. For example, current research projects on Delta smelt include long-term population trends, bioenergetics, genomics, Delta habitat, water quality requirements of smelt, predator-prey interactions, development of techniques for improved field tracking of smelt distribution and movement, development of conservation broodstock, and breeding for further research studies.

This item originally appeared in the Feb. 2012 SRF e-Newsletter.