Bothin Marsh is a

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

in Marin County, California. Parts of the wetlands are in the Bothin Marsh Open Space Preserve, a regional park.

Natural history

The marsh, positioned at the northern arm of

Richardson Bay Richardson Bay (originally Richardson's Bay) is a shallow, ecologically rich arm of San Francisco Bay, managed under a Joint Powers Agency of four northern California cities. The Richardson Bay Sanctuary was acquired in the early 1960s by the ...

is fed by

Arroyo Corte Madera del Presidio Arroyo Corte Madera del Presidio is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 9, 2011 year-round stream in southern Marin County, California, United States. This watercour ...

. Bothin Marsh is situated not far from

Triangle Marsh Triangle Marsh is a wetland of the San Francisco Bay, situated at the base of Ring Mountain at the north end of the Tiburon Peninsula in Marin County, California. Archaeological Pecked curvilinear nucleated petroglyphs, and recovery on Rin ...

, although the latter is situated on the northern edge of the

Tiburon Peninsula The Tiburon Peninsula (french: Péninsule de Tiburon), or The Xaragua Peninsula, simply "the Tiburon" (''le Tiburon''), is a region of Haiti encompassing most of Haiti's southern coast. It starts roughly at the southernmost point of the Haiti-D ...

. It is likely that Native Americans gathered estuarine resources from Bothin Marsh, as they did from nearby

History

Jo Julin was instrumental in the preservation of Bothin Marsh in the early 1970s, when developers attempted to drain the marsh in order to begin construction. Today the Bothin Marsh Open Space Preserve provides habitat for hundreds of native bird and wildlife species, including the endangered

salt marsh harvest mouse The salt marsh harvest mouse (''Reithrodontomys raviventris''), also known as the red-bellied harvest mouse, is an endangered rodent endemic to the San Francisco Bay Area salt marshes in California. The two distinct subspecies are both endangere ...

and

Ridgway's rail Ridgway's rail (''Rallus obsoletus'') is a near-threatened species of bird. It is found principally in California's San Francisco Bay to southern Baja California. A member of the rail family, Rallidae, it is a chicken-sized bird that rarely flie ...

. It's also a resting stop for over 400 species of migratory birds traveling on the

Pacific Flyway The Pacific Flyway is a major north-south flyway for migratory birds in the Americas, extending from Alaska to Patagonia. Every year, migratory birds travel some or all of this distance both in spring and in fall, following food sources, heading ...

. ''

Salicornia virginica ''Salicornia virginica'' (American glasswort, pickleweed) is a halophytic A halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as ...

'' is the persuasive species is found adjacent to where the salinity of sediments is lower. The managers of Bothin Marsh Open Space Preserve have the responsibility of protecting this ecologically dense space. Not only does this marsh support a variety of unique plants and animals native to the bay, it also provides recreational purposes for visitors and local residents. Even though there are efforts being put in place to protect this landscape, due to climate change, the rise in sea level is flooding the Bay Trail and the marsh. In addition to marsh, the Mill Valley-Sausalito Multiuse Pathway will also be affected by the flooding and sea level rise of . In order to preserve the pathway, local conservation groups have planned to work around the given conditions. Elevating and realigning a segment of the Bay Trail along the south Bothin Marsh, creating ectosome slopes with thin-lift sediments, connecting the Coyote Creek and the Bothing Marsh with the help of new channels, and re-using dredged material along with multiple other plans.

References

Marshes of California Landforms of Marin County, California Wetlands of the San Francisco Bay Area Tiburon, California Natural history of Marin County, California Protected areas of Marin County, California San Francisco Bay Trail {{MarinCountyCA-geo-stub