Southern Pacific Coast Regional Shorebird Plan
Page GW and Shuford WD. 2000. Southern Pacific Coast Regional Shorebird Plan. Version 1.0. Point Reyes Bird Observatory. Stinson Beach, CA
The 1,067-mile coastline and the 40-mile-wide by 400-mile-long Central Valley of California are the main areas where shorebirds concentrate in the Southern Pacific Region. Tidal wetlands, sand beaches, and rocky shoreline are the principal shorebird habitats on the coast. About two-thirds of the estimated 381,000 acres of prime tidal wetlands at the turn of the century have been degraded or destroyed by agricultural, industrial, urban, and military development (Speth 1979). Simultaneously, sand beaches have been heavily developed for human recreation and beach front housing, whereas rocky shoreline has been relatively little altered. In the Central Valley, about 90% of historic wetlands have been altered or destroyed for agriculture or urban development. Today the Central Valley habitats most used by shorebirds are restored, highly managed wetlands, irrigated or flooded agricultural lands, hypersaline agricultural evaporation ponds, municipal sewage ponds, and vernal pool rangelands.