Reports & Publications

Federally endangered coho salmon and threatened steelhead trout are large, charismatic fish that play crucial roles in both stream and ocean ecosystems. The National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program and its partners began monitoring coho and steelhead in Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Point Reyes National Seashore in 1998.

The northern spotted owl been declining in vast parts of its range. Marin County, California, is an exception. As a result, Marin is an area of particular conservation interest. But successful conservation requires understanding the threats species face, and how those threats might change over time. So researchers recently did a vulnerability assessment of Marin's spotted owls to get answers about their exposure and sensitivity to threats.

The rocky intertidal zone has a tremendous diversity of plants and animals that are sensitive indicators of environmental change. The National Park Service contributes to collaborative long-term intertidal monitoring programs along the Pacific coast. The Coastal Biophysical Inventory's rapid assessments yield quantitative snapshots of the geology and biology of an expansive shoreline.

Both prairie falcons and peregrine falcons nest on the cliffs at Pinnacles and eat small mammals, birds and reptiles from surrounding habitats. The National Park Service began monitoring prairie falcons in cliff-nesting areas near rock climbing routes in 1987 to protect the birds from disturbances while still allowing climbers to scale as many routes as possible. By 2003, the NPS had expanded monitoring to all suitable cliff-nesting sites in the park.

Endangered coho salmon in coastal streams within the Golden Gate National Recreational Area and Point Reyes National Seashore may be on the verge of disappearing from these sites. These populations are affected by what happens in both their stream and ocean habitats.

Bats are economically and ecologically important animals, providing ecosystem services such as pollination and predation of insects. Since Pinnacles National Park provides important and unique habitat for bats, baseline information on populations is critical to management needs. To characterize the diversity of bat species at Pinnacles National Park, researchers used multiple survey techniques, including acoustic sampling, mist-nets, and roost sampling from 2004-2005.

The rocky intertidal zone, or the band of rocky shore covered up by the highest of tides and exposed by the lowest of tides, is an extraordinarily diverse and productive ecosystem. The National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program monitors rocky intertidal communities at five sites in Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Point Reyes National Seashore.

With their varied microclimates, large swaths of protected wild lands, and position along a major migratory pathway, the National Parks in the San Francisco Bay Area host some of the largest and most diverse assemblages of landbirds in the United States. Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Point Reyes National Seashore have a long history of landbird monitoring, with some sites surveyed since the mid-1960s.

The quality of the nighttime environment and availability of natural lighting conditions is relevant to various ecosystem functions, particularly those concerning nocturnal wildlife. The National Park Service has developed a system for measuring sky brightness to quantify the source and severity of light pollution in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Western Snowy Plovers nest in only half as many locations in California as they did prior to 1970, indicating that habitat degradation has taken its toll on ecosystem health. Point Blue began annual breeding-season Western Snowy Plover monitoring at Point Reyes National Seashore in 1995. The National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program took over in 2008.