in the soil. Its, root system represents only about 20 percent of the 

 total weight o£ the plant (Floyd and Newcombe, 1976] . Saltgrass is often 

 prostrate (lying on the ground) and spreads from above-ground runners 

 (stolons), providing little resistance to waves and only limited benefit 

 to soil. 



Based on the above considerations, California cordgrass was selected 

 for planting experiments. 



2. Survey of Existing Marshes . 



A field survey of over 23 natural cordgrass marshes was made around 

 the bay in November 1976 (Fig. 2). The total number of culms (stems) 

 per meter and the mean height of stems and biomass were measured (four 

 replicates) for each survey site. These data were used to compare the 

 natural marshes and the marshes planted during the course of the study. 



Each site was assigned an alphabetic and geographic designation. The 

 following is a listing of the natural marsh areas sampled and the alpha- 

 betic designation used to locate the sites in Figure 2: 



A. Alameda Creek Flood 



Control Channel 



B. Bay Bridge Toll Plaza 



C. Bolinas Lagoon 



D. Burlingame 



E. China Camp 



F. Corte Madera Creek 



G. Coyote Point 

 H. Creekside Park 

 1. Drakes Estero 



J. Golden <]ate Fields 



K. Limatour 



L, Marin Day School 



II. Novate Creek 



N. Oro Loma 



0. Palo Alto 



P. Petaluma Creek 



Q. Pinole Creek (mouth) ; 



two sites 

 R. Richardson Bay 

 S. Seal Slough 

 T. San Francisco Airport 

 U. Shoreline Drive 

 V. Southhampton Bay 



3. Field Planting Sites . 



a. General Physical Features of San Francisco Bay . 



(1) Tides . San Francisco Bay is subject to the Pacific coast 

 semidiurnal tidal pattern of two high and two low tides per day (24.8 

 hours). Unlike the Atlantic coast, the two high tides and two low tides 

 differ in magnitude. Tidal range within the bay generally increases in- 

 land from the Golden Gate Bridge. The mean tidal range at the bridge is 

 approximately 1.3 meters; the southern tip of the South San Francisco 

 Bay (approximately 80 kilometers) has a tidal range of 2.7 meters. 



(2) Wind. The wind rose shown in Figure 3 represents the gen- 

 eral wind environment of the San Francisco Bay area. The strongest av- 

 erage winds blow from the west; south-southeast winds are also strong but 

 occur less frequently. Strongest winds occur during the winter when 

 storms increase wave heights from 0.3 meter to more than 1.0 meter 

 (Pestrong, 1972). 



