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Elkhorn Slough Ecosystem

Description

Elkhorn Slough is a 7-mile long tidal slough on Monterey Bay. It harbors the largest tract of tidal salt marsh in California outside the San Francisco Bay and provides much-needed habitat for hundreds of species of plants and animals, including more than 340 species of birds. It has been designated as a protected Ramsar site since 2018

Along with the beauty and diverse habitat for wildlife, these wetlands provide a critical service to the environment. As natural filters, wetlands can remove impurities from the water before it enters our streams and oceans.  Wetlands are also incredible carbon sequesters — removing and storing greenhouse gases from the earth’s atmosphere to slow the onset of global warming.

Unsustainable farming practices, development, and other environmental stressors threaten the slough’s health and native habitats. The Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve and Elkhorn Slough Foundation, along with our partners the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, work to conserve, protect, restore, and share this amazing and unique environment.

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