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1
FORNES
and David K.
2
Jacobs
1Department
Objective
Introduction
Future Research
The next step in the research is to continue the same methodology along
more of the California coastline. Additionally, the estuaries will be classified
according to an existing eight-category system based on closure. The
combined information of historical area measurements and closure
classifications will be used to formulate unique and updated restoration
strategies for at-risk systems. Historical precipitation, tide, and scour event
data will also be taken into account to holistically understand the geographic
and temporal variances in estuary extent. Each system can be analyzed
individually to take infrastructure additions and past management techniques
into consideration. Estuaries of particular interest are those that contain the
endangered Tidewater Goby, Eucyclogobius newberryi.
Figure 3: An example estuary closure state, one of eight defined by David K. Jacobs. This represents a
closure state in the intertidal. A seasonally tidal system may show the mouth part-way through the closure
process. The estuary pictured in Figure 1 is an example of this closure state.
Figure 2: The locations of the fifty estuaries measured for this project. Located just north of Santa Barbara,
measurements began with Arroyo Hondo in the southeast and have reached Pismo Creek Lagoon in the north.
Methods
Figure 1: On top is Caada de Gaviota in 1972. A water body and large wettable area is apparent. On the
bottom is the same area in 2013, which has been turned into a parking lot for Gaviota State Park, reducing
the potential size of the estuary.
Figure 4: The Arroyo Hondo estuary in 1873. This map is topographic sheet #1338 from the U.S. Coast
Survey. The dark gray polygon is the area within the 20 contour line, the dark blue polygon is the wettable
area, and the light blue polygon is the apparent water body.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Professor Rachel Kennison and the Grand Challenges
Undergraduate Research Scholars Program for providing this research
opportunity and teaching me so much about the scientific process. This
research was funded by the Vice Chancellor for Research and was made
possible by a unique collaboration between the Assistant Vice Chancellor for
Research, M. Popowitz and the Director of Undergraduate Research Centers,
T. Hasson.