Engineering Commons^™

Hydrodynamic Modeling Coupled With Long-Term Field Data Provide Evidence For Suppression Of Phytoplankton By Invasive Clams And Freshwater Exports In The San Francisco Estuary, Bruce G. Hammock

Faculty Publications

The San Francisco Estuary (California, USA) had abundant pelagic fish in the late 1960s, but has few pelagic fish today. A primary cause for this decline in fish is thought to be a trophic cascade, triggered by declining phytoplankton. Here, we describe the changes in pelagic community structure of the San Francisco Estuary. Then, we examine whether changes in hydrodynamics due to freshwater exports, which increased exponentially beginning in 1967, in addition to the 1986 invasion by the clam Potamocorbula amurensis, explain the phytoplankton loss. Hydrodynamic variables were reconstructed back to 1956 using statistical models fit to, and cross-validated against, …