Palo Alto Marshlands (Baylands)Map Satellite
Used as a nature interpretative center, this area includes both salt marsh, mud flats and open water. In the salt marsh the dominant species are salt grass, Distichlis spicata, cord grass, Spartina foliosa, and, in most sections, pickleweed, Salicornia virginica. The rare Cordylanthus maritimus ssp. maritimus may be present here.
During the migratory season the area is a feeding and resting ground for thousands of migratory shore-birds and waterfowl; upwards of sixty to seventy different species may be sighted at the height of the season. The endangered California clapper rail, Rallus longirostris obsoletus, and the salt-marsh harvest mouse, Reithrodontomys raviventris, may occur in the area.
Integrity: An interpretative center is located in the area and there are boardwalks to protect the marsh. The inner portions are diked and a power line crosses the marsh.
Use: Educational, research, observational.
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman