Submitted by Albert Ruhi Vidal on
In the past decade, multiple projects in the upper San Francisco Bay Estuary and Delta have restored wetland habitat by breaching the wetlands and restoring their natural tidal connection with the estuary. However, effects of these restoration efforts at the food-web level remain largely unknown. The goal of this project is to evaluate whether the restoration of tidal wetlands translates into recovery of both community structure (species presence) and the dominant energy pathways (algal and detrital) connecting resources and consumers across the estuary-marsh continuum. This is a three-year project funded through Proposition 1 (California Department of Fish and Wildlife) and co-led by three institutions: UC Berkeley, USGS, and ICF. At UC Berkeley, PhD student Megan Pagliaro is leading the stable isotope analysis component of the project. This component aims at determining the relative importance of imported vs. localized inputs in reference wetlands compared to restored (breached) wetlands, and interactions among the main groups of consumers. We will use three stable isotopes: carbon (to assess the carbon source), nitrogen (to determine trophic position), and sulfur (to track marine influence), and we will combine these data with community composition data. The results of this project will provide valuable information on the effect of restoration on wetland ecosystem recovery, and will inform future restoration and management strategies in the Delta. The project will continue beyond the scope of this position. Thus, opportunities will be available for undergraduates to get involved in the longer term, and develop independent research projects in the lab.
Separate, clean, and identify samples consisting of terrestrial and aquatic plants and macroinvertebrates.
Learn and assist in the refinement of new methods for isolating food-web components (e.g. phytoplankton, zooplankton, suspended organic matter, fine particulate organic matter).
Assist in preparing samples for stable isotope analysis (e.g., drying, weighing).
Previous lab experience (preferred but not required), passed relevant environmental and biology courses, majoring or minoring in a field relevant to the project, any hands-on experience in field ecology and/or aquatic ecology.