THE INTRODUCTION AND SPREAD OF SMOOTH CORDGRASS (SPARTINA-ALTERNIFLORA) IN SOUTH SAN-FRANCISCO BAY

Spartina alterniflora was first introduced into south San Francisco Bay in the 1970's. Since that time it has spread to new areas within the south bay and is especially well established at four sites. The spread of this introduced species was evaluated by comparing its vegetative and reproductive characteristics to the native cordgrass, Spartina foliosa. The characters studied were intertidal distribution, phenology, aboveground and belowground biomass, growth rates, seed production, and germination rates. Spartina alterniflora has a wider intertidal distribution than S. foliosa and outproduced the native cordgrass in all aspects that were studied. These results indicate that the introduced species has a much better chance of becoming established in new areas than the native species, and once established, it spreads more rapidly vegetatively than the native species. Spartina alterniflora is likely to continue to spread to new areas in the bay and displace the native plant. In addition, this introduced species may affect sedimentation dynamics, available detritus, benthic algal production, wrack deposition and disturbance, habitat structure for native wetland animals, benthic invertebrate populations, and shorebird and wading bird foraging areas.