San Francisco Estuary Institute

A Delta Transformed: Ecological Functions, Spatial Metrics, and Landscape Change in the Sacramento-san Joaquin Delta San Francisco Estuary Institute

Recent state policy sets ambitious goals for ecosystem restoration in the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta. The Delta Plan and California Water Code, as well as other regional documents, identify the need to go beyond small-scale habitat restoration to create larger functional landscapes of interconnected habitats. Yet there is little quantitative guidance available to help design the complex spatial systems that are likely to achieve these goals. This report provides the first analysis of ecological landscape metrics in the pre-disturbance and contemporary Delta to help define, design, and evaluate functional, resilient landscapes for the future.