Conservation Biology

The Conservation Biology Program focuses on landscape planning for wildlife, with an emphasis on producing practical scientific information to aid resource managers in making decisions that will optimize benefits for wildlife. Our goal is to provide input that will improve how restoration projects and planning efforts take into account and plan for the needs of wild animals and plants across the regional landscape and over time. Recent projects include landscape analyses of the ecological connectivity of habitats in eastern Marin County and development of wetland mercury biosentinel species to aid tidal marsh restoration planning. more >

Program Manager: Letitia Grenier, Ph.D.

Meetings and Events There are no scheduled events. View Calendar Featured Projects Wetlands Regional Monitoring Project This Prop 50 - funded project was a three-year effort to monitor and track changes in Bay Area wetland condition using the EPA's three-level monitoring framework. LTMS Science Framework Update SFEI is updating the technical underpinnings for minimizing the impacts of dredging on species of concern. North Bay Small Fish Mercury Monitoring The North Bay Biosentinel project is an effort to monitor the bioaccumulation of methylmercury in the tissue of small fish located within the tidal marshes and managed ponds in San Pablo Bay. Riparian Mercury Biosentinel Project Coming Soon South Baylands Mercury Project (SBMP) 2008 was the third and last year of a project to characterize and monitor bio-available mercury and its uptake into local food webs of the South Bay managed ponds and intertidal habitats, focusing initially on Pond A8 and Alviso Slough. Ecological Connections between Baylands and Uplands A team of senior scientists was assembled to draft a set of descriptions of how eleven "focal species" in eastern Marin County connect the various parts of the landscape into one ecological whole. More

News and Notables Oct-16-12 SFEI-ASC Shines at Bay-Delta Science Conferences SFEI-ASC Scientists gave 5 presentations and displayed 3 posters at the 7th Biennial Bay-Delta Science Conference Jul-29-11 SFEI Mercury Scientists present at the International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant Jay Davis, Lester McKee, Don Yee, Nicole David, and Aroon Melwani presented at the International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant in Halifax, Nova Scotia. May-22-11 Taming Methylmercury In this podcast produced by the San Francisco Estuary Partnership, Estuary managers and scientists, including SFEI scientist Letitia Grenier, provide insight on the impact and control of methylmercury in the Estuary. Feb-15-10 Final report used in decision-making for restoration of South Bay Salt Ponds Letitia Grenier released a final report that will be used in decision making for the restoration of the South Bay Salt Ponds. Mar-01-09 Mercury Rising. Is restoring wetlands bad for health? Mercury Rising...Mercury, to put it plainly is bad stuff.