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         In the days of the Miwok and Ohlone tribes, the San Francisco Bay Area was a glorious region, booming with biodiversity and thriving ecosystems. Flocks of shorebirds clouded the skies, deer ran wild in the golden hills, and the creeks flowed freely with an abundance of spawning steelhead trout and coho salmon. What was the center of this biodiversity? The wetlands, which sprawled out from the deltas into the bay, packed with tule reeds and pickleweed. The tidal marshes were abundant with life and crucial to the health of all. It was filled with birds, insects, and baby fish in the muddy water. These wetlands vary slightly are referred to by many names, including tidal marsh, salt marsh, and brackish marsh, but despite their differences, they are all the native home of the endemic Reithrodontomys raviventris (salt marsh harvest mouse). 

 

WHO IS THIS MOUSE

 

          The salt marsh harvest mouse is endemic

to San Francisco, San Pablo, and San Suisun Bay.

To survive, the species greatly depends on salt

and brackish marshes that contain an abundance

of pickleweed. Currently, the species is highly

threatened due to the destruction of habitat

because of human activities, predation, and

fragmentation in the species range. According

to the IUCN Red List, the estimated population

of the species is only about one thousand,

making them an endangered species prone to

extinction (IUCN red list, 2019).

 

DIVERSITY IS KEY

 

          Although some people don't think that this endangered mouse species can make that much of a difference on the overall of the marsh habitat, if the species were to become extinct the entire wetland ecosystem would suffer. Wetlands need to be protected in order to provide vital services such as releasing groundwater and providing niches for various species other than the Salt Harvest mouse. Wetlands also help to reduce the amount of soil runoff and pollution, which makes all other rivers and lakes located below cleaner (Tropical Forest Network, 2010). When disasters occur it can end up destroying the ecosystem, but if the biodiversity is high, the ecosystem will be able to recover quickly (Softschools, 2005).