Napa Sonoma Marsh
Encyclopedia
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
at the northern edge of San Pablo Bay
San Pablo Bay
San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of San Francisco Bay in northern California in the United States. Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep water channel approximately in mid bay, which allows access to Sacramento, Stockton, Benicia, Martinez, and...
, which is a northern arm of the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, USA. This marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
has an area of 48,000 acres (194 km²), of which 13,000 acres (53 km²) are abandoned salt evaporation pond
Salt evaporation pond
Salt evaporation ponds, also called salterns or salt pans, are shallow artificial ponds designed to produce salts from sea water or other brines. The seawater or brine is fed into large ponds and water is drawn out through natural evaporation which allows the salt to be subsequently harvested...
s. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Government has designated 13,000 acres (53 km²) in the Napa Sonoma Marsh as the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge
San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge
San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge in California established in 1970. It extends along the northern shore of San Pablo Bay from the mouth of the Petaluma River to Tolay Creek, Sonoma Creek and ends at Mare Island...
.
The marsh is fed by Sonoma Creek
Sonoma Creek
Sonoma Creek is a stream in northern California. It is one of two principal drainages of southern Sonoma County, California, with headwaters rising in the rugged hills of Sugarloaf Ridge State Park and discharging to San Pablo Bay, the northern arm of San Francisco Bay. The watershed drained by...
(which drains the Sonoma Valley
Sonoma Valley
Sonoma Valley is the birthplace of the California wine industry and often called The Valley of the Moon. Sonoma Valley is home to some of the earliest vineyards and wineries in the state, some of which survived the phylloxera epidemic of the 1870s and the impact of Prohibition...
), Tolay Creek
Tolay Creek
Tolay Creek is a southward-flowing stream in southern Sonoma County, California, USA, which flows through Tolay Lake and ends in north San Pablo Bay.-History:The Alaguali were a Coast Miwok community of northern San Pablo Bay in the Tolay Creek region...
(originating in the Tolay Lake
Tolay Lake
Tolay Lake is a shallow freshwater lacustrine water body in southern Sonoma County, California, United States. The lake, nestled within the southern vestiges of the Sonoma Mountains, is the site of significant Native American prehistoric seasonal settlement...
basin), and the Napa River
Napa River
The Napa River, approximately 55 miles long, is a river in the U.S. state of California. It drains a famous wine-growing region, called the Napa Valley, in the mountains northeast of San Francisco. Milliken Creek is a tributary of the Napa River....
(which drains the Napa Valley). Although the marsh extends north as far as State Route 12, as a practical matter, most of the marsh is only accessible by boat.
The marsh is a productive estuarine ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
providing habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
for a wide diversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
of flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
and fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
, including numerous rare
Rare species
A rare species is a group of organisms that are very uncommon or scarce. This designation may be applied to either a plant or animal taxon, and may be distinct from the term "endangered" or "threatened species" but not "extinct"....
and endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
such as the California Clapper Rail
California Clapper Rail
The California Clapper Rail is an endangered subspecies of the Clapper Rail . It is found principally in California's San Francisco Bay, and also in Monterey Bay and Morro Bay...
and California freshwater shrimp. Because of its rich avafaunal content, the Napa Sonoma Marsh is one of only seven marshes selected for intensive study by the Point Reyes Bird Observatory (based on a total of 50 discrete marshes appurtenant to the San Francisco Bay).
Around 1860, the Napa Sonoma Marsh was one of the most productive wetlands of the Pacific Coast
Pacific Coast
A country's Pacific coast is the part of its coast bordering the Pacific Ocean.-The Americas:Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western border.* Geography of Canada* Geography of Chile* Geography of Colombia...
, providing habitat for millions of birds. By the mid-1980s, the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
perimeter had lost over 91 percent of its wetlands. The Napa Sonoma Marsh represents one of the few sizeable expanses where restoration is feasible.
An extensive research literature base exists for the Napa Sonoma Marsh.
See also
- Hydrography of the San Francisco Bay AreaHydrography of the San Francisco Bay AreaThe Hydrography of the San Francisco Bay Area is a complex network of watersheds, marshes, rivers, creeks, reservoirs, and bays predominantly draining into the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean.-Bays:...
- Salt Marsh Harvest MouseSalt Marsh Harvest MouseThe Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse , also known as the Red-bellied Harvest Mouse and some times called by Saltmarsh Harvest Mouse, is an endangered rodent endemic to the San Francisco Bay Area salt marshes in California. There are two distinct subspecies, both endangered and listed together on federal...
- Sears PointSears PointSears Point is a prominent landform jutting into the historic reaches of San Pablo Bay in Sonoma County, California, USA. This hill is the southernmost peak of the Sonoma Mountains and forms the southwestern ridge above Tolay Lake...
- Suisun ShrewSuisun ShrewSorex ornatus sinuosus, the Suisun Shrew or Suisun ornate shrew, is a subspecies of the Ornate Shrew that occurs in the tidal marshes of the northern shores of San Pablo and Suisun bays Sorex ornatus sinuosus, the Suisun Shrew or Suisun ornate shrew, is a subspecies of the Ornate Shrew that occurs...