What is the San Francisco Bay ecosystem?

San Francisco Bay is an estuary, where salt water and fresh water mix to form a rich and unique ecosystem that benefits fish, wildlife and people.

What organisms live in the San Francisco estuary?

Harbor seals, gulls, sea bass, geese, thousands of other species of fish, plants, mammals, reptiles, and birds thrive in the San Francisco Bay estuary.

What type of estuary is San Francisco Bay?

San Francisco Bay is a shallow estuary in the U.S. state of California. It is surrounded by a contiguous region known as the San Francisco Bay Area (often simply “the Bay Area”), and is dominated by the large cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.

Why is that a problem for the Bay Delta ecosystem?

The Bay-Delta ecosystem is being altered by habitat conversion and water quality degradation, including salt water intrusion. For example, several fish populations have declined, and some species are on federal threatened and endangered species lists.

What landforms are in San Francisco?

The most prominent of San Francisco’s hills are Twin Peaks, Mount Davidson, and Mount Sutro, all of which exceed 900 feet (270 metres) in elevation.

What is the San Francisco Estuary Project?

The Project, part of the U.S. EPA’s National Estuary Program, is a five-year cooperative effort to promote more effective management of the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary and to restore and maintain the Estuary’s water quality and natural resources.

What plants live in the San Francisco Bay?

Riparian woodlands also have an understory which includes marsh baccharis (Baccharis douglasii), California rose (Rosa californica), California blackberry (Rubus ursinus) and California grape (Vitis californica), and grows mostly between the more wooded areas and tidal marsh.

Are there rays in San Francisco Bay?

Bat rays can reach a wingspan of 6 feet. They are common in San Francisco Bay and throughout the Pacific Ocean. In the Bay Area you’re most likely to spot bat rays in any area with a mudflat, from San Francisco to the South Bay. Like all of the Bay’s creatures, bat rays are vulnerable to changes in their environment.

What plants are found in the San Francisco Bay?

Flowering trees

  • California Buckeye.
  • Black elderberry.
  • Pacific Madrone.
  • Coast live oak.

What are the 4 main problems concerning California and the Bay Delta?

The San Francisco Bay Delta Watershed is facing a number of significant environmental and economic challenges. Population growth, increasing water demand, loss of habitat and water pollution continue to present difficulties in planning for the watershed’s future.

How is SF Bay polluted?

POLLUTION FACTS A study by the San Francisco Estuary Institute showed that on average, Bay Area wastewater treatment plants released an estimated 7,000,000 particles per day to San Francisco Bay, as their screens are not small enough to catch them. Microplastics absorb pollution and threaten wildlife that ingest them.

Is San Francisco an isthmus or peninsula?

The San Francisco Peninsula is a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area that separates San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. On its northern tip is the City and County of San Francisco. Its southern base is in northern Santa Clara County, including the cities of Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Los Altos.