California's Coastal Wetlands a PLANT COMMUNITY in a CALIFORNIA COASTAL WETLAND

CUIilR-E-80-001 c.2 California's Coastal Wetlands A PLANT COMMUNITY IN A CALIFORNIA COASTAL WETLAND

California's coastal wetlands maritimum!, and salt grass Dis- are the setting for a simple plant tichlis spicata!. This is an area sub- community made up of diverse jected to seasonallyhigh tides fol- zones. The diverse zones reflect lowed by weeks, sometimes ' the complexity of the wetland months, of nO tidal inundation N, environment where tide action, and little or no rainfall. At salinity, temperature, and eleva- greater distances landward, espe- tion play key roles in determining cially in southern California, the which plants occur in the wetland salt-tolerant plants gradually give area. way to coastal sage scrub and Below the limits of the low other hardy plants that require a tide are the submerged lands that minimum amount of water to sur- are constantly covered by salt vive in a dry chaparral environ- water the marine zone. Often, ment. Additionally, freshwater only a dense population of algae pools often collect where there is and eelgrass is found in this zone adequate rainfall, especially in the because the environment is too uplands that surround many coa- harsh for most vascular plants. stal wetlands in northern Califor- Between the lines of high and nia. They provide habitat for low tide is the area that is alter- I'reshwater cattails, frogs, crayfish, nately submerged and exposed and small fish. Periui nktenn CnrdgrasI twice a day by incoming and out- going tides. In those California coastal wetlands that are shallow and flat, this area is dominated by SUGGESTED CLASSROOM ACTIVITY * a particular marsh grass, cordgrass Spartina foliosa!l, that requires Exploration adequate tidal flushing for sur- vival. Many California coastat What organismsare found iri California'scoastal wetlands? wetlands, however, slope steeply Describewhere the organismsare found in a California coastalwet- upward and experience less tidal land. inundation, Cordgrass is not found in them, Instead, these wetlands Invention are dominated by various succu- Concept: Organismslive in communitiesthat are made up of eco- lents, including the fleshy, green pickleweed Salicornia virginica!, logical nicheswith unique characteristics.! that can withstand long periods Why is therea transitionof types of organismsf'rom one part of a without submersion, In fact, the wetland to another part? pickleweed has evolved from a non-marine environment and can Discovery now tolerate submersion in salt What do all California wetlands have in common? water. At the upper reaches of the Suggested Reading: high tide and landward, pickleweed becomes more interspersed Bakker,Elna, An IslandCalled California, Berkeley: UC Press, 1971. with sea blite Suaeda californica!, The Coastal Wetland Series. Sacramento: Calil'ornia Department of Fish arrow grass Triglochin and Game. 1970. Macdonald, K.B. "CoastalSalt Marsh" in Terrestrial Vegetationof Califor- ni, M.G. Barbourand J, Major, eds. New York: J. Wiley 8LSons, 1977. THE ESTUARY

An estuary is a semienclosed coastal body of water that has a free connection with the open sea SUGGESTED CLASSROOM ACTIVITY * and within which sea water is measurably diluted with fresh Exploration water derived from land Comparethe total amountof foodmade available to animals pro- drainage.*" ductivity! in a coastalwetland to that in otherplaces such as the As fresh water flows from the open ocean, a desert, a forest, or a meadow. coastal watershed to the estuary, either by river flow or under- Invention ground flow, it carries with it sand, silt, clay, and dissolved Concept;Role of concentrationand availablity of nutrientsin deter- mininghow muchlife is presentin a place! nutrients. At the same time, the shores of the estuary are aiter- How canthe resultsof your explorationbe explained? nately flooded and exposedduring each tidal cycle. This incoming Discovery salt water distributes sand, nitro- What effect do coastal wetlands and estuaries have on the ocean gen, and phosphates throughout adjacent to them? the estuary. Sediment and sand deposits from both these f'reshwa- SuggestedReading: ter and saltwater sources eventu- Teal,J. andM. Teal.Life and Death of a SaltMarsh, Boston: Little, Brown ally settle out to form the shallow Co., 1949. geologic base for the estuary. Odum,E.P. Fundamentalsof Ecology.Philadelphia: W. B, Saunders.1972, *' Definition from; G.H. LauA; ed., Conomos,T.J., ed, San FranciscoBay, the UrbanizedEstuary, San Fran- I' sn aries. Washington, D,C.: Ameri- cisco:Pacific Division of AAAS, c/o CaliforniaAcademy of Sciences, can Association for the Advancement 1979. of Science Publication 83, 1967.

" For informationabout other classroom activities presented in this style,con- tact: OBIS/LawrenceHall of Science,University of California, Berkeley,Calilor- nia 94720. INTERPRETIVE PROGRAMS FOR THE PUBLIC Interpretiveprograms for thepublic are offered free of chargeby the following organizations at the locations indicated. Contactthe organizationfor more information and reservations.

Bodega Bay Inst i ute Friends of Newport Bay 240 Fort Mason Box 4088 Irvine Station San Francisco, CA. 94193 Newport Beach, CA. 92664 Locations: Location: BodegaBay SonomaCounty! Upper NewportBay OrangeCounty! San Francisco Bay Tornales Bay Marin County! Marine Adventures College of Marin Border Field State Park Kentfietd, CA. 94904 Frontera Area Locations: 2725 Congress Street, Suite 2K BolinasLagoon Marin County! San Diego, CA. 92110 San Francisco Bay Locations'. Tijuana Estuary San Diego County! Marine Ecological Institute 811 Harbor Boulevard California Departtnent of Parks Redwood City, CA. 94063 and Recreation Location: Area Manager San Francisco Bay 1994 Harbor Blvd, Ventura, CA. 93003 Location: Morro Bay Museum of Natural History Santa Clara River Mouth Ventura County! State Park Road Morro Bay, CA, 93442 Location: California Department of Parks Morro Bay San Luis ObispoCounty! and Recreation Area Manager 28754 Mulholland Hwy. Newport Bay Nature Tours Agoura, CA, 91301 Chuck Schneebeck school tours! Location: Division of Life Science Malibu Lagoon Los AngelesCounty! Fullerton College 321 E. Chapman Fullerton, CA, 92634 Coyote Hills Regional Park Location: Interpretive StaA Upper Newport Bay OrangeCounty! 8000 Patterson Ranch Road Fremont, CA. 94536 Location: S.I.O, Aquarium/Museum San Francisco Bay - Coyote Hills Marsh Universiyof California A-007! La Jolla, CA, 92093 Locations; Environmental Studies Internship Program Kendall Frost Marsh San DiegoCounty! UCSC/Nature Conservancy Los PenasquitosLagoon San Diego County! 317 Kerr Hall Tijuana Estuary San DiegoCounty! University of California, Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA. 95064 Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve Elkhorn Slough Monterey County! P,O. Box 38 Carlsbad, CA. 92008 Location: Friends of' Ballona Wetland Los PenasquitosLagoon San DiegoCounty! 6953 Trolley Way Playa Del Rey, CA. 92091 Location: La BallonaEstuary Los AngelesCounty! ANT ORNlA

The California Sea Grant College Program is a statewide multi-university program of marine research,education, and advisoryservices, administered by the Universityof CaliforniaInstitute of Marine Resources. Sea Grant-sponsored research contributes to the growing body of knowledge about our coastal and oceanic resources and to the solution of contemporary problems in the marine sphere. Through its Marine Advisory Program, SeaGrant transfers information and tech- nologydeveloped in researcheForts to a wide communityof usersin California,the region,and the nation. Sea Grant also supports a broad range of educational programs for university students, public school teachersand students, and the general public so our coastaland oceanic resources may be understoodand judiciously usedby this and future generations,

James J. Sullivan, Program Manager California Sea Grant College Program IMR, A-032, UCSD La Jolla, CA. 92093

For California Sea Grant College Program Sea Grant educational programs for school children, Publications in Marine Education or informa- teachers and the general public are available through: tion about the Marine Advisory Program S.I.O. Aquarium/Museum write: University of California A-007! Maynard Cummings La Jolla, CA. 92093 Coordinator of Marine Advisory Programs 554 Hutchison Hall Center for Coastal Marine Studies University of California University of California Santa Cruz, CA. 95064 Davis, CA. 95616 916! 752-3342 Humboldt State University Marine Laboratory P. 0. Box 624 Trinidad, CA, 95570 This booklet was adapted from California's Coastal H'et andsby Sana Siwolop and Henri Albert. La Jolla: Marine Science Institute California Sea Grant College Program Report ¹2, 1979. University of California You are welcome to make photocopies for educational purposes. This work was supported, in part, by the Santa Barbara, CA, 93106 National Sea Grant College Program, NOAA, Dept. of Commerce under grant ¹NA80AA-D-00120 to the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories University of California and by the California State P.O. Box 223 Resources Agency. Moss Landing, CA, 95039 Algal mat Monanthochloe littoralis! Cordgrass Spartina f'oliosa!

Pickleweed Salicornia virginica! Light-I'ootedclapper rail Rallus longirostrislevipes! NATIONALSEAGRANT DEPOSITORY PELl.LIBRARY BUILDING URINARRAGANSETT BAYCAMPUS NARRAGANSETT,RI 02882

RECEIVED NATIONALSEA GRANTDEPOSITORY DATE"AN 5 1981

mat . v ~ '.

aO @qyP ,t0 o