Kendall-Frost Links:

UCSD Reserve Map

Reserve Map

Use Applications
(research, class, and public/K-12 use)

For Reserve Users...
Download a Use Record Form (PDF)
Class | Research | Public
(Must have Acrobat Reader 3.0+ or higher to view)

History

For two hundred years, Mission Bay and its tributaries have been altered to meet the needs of the people of San Diego. From canals dug by missionaries during the eighteenth century to the modern engineering of Mission Bay Park, the face of the estuary has continually changed. Extensive salt marshes that once dominated the lagoon have been reduced to a 30 acre patch along the northern edge of the bay. There, the Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve protects 16 acres of salt marsh contiguous with the mudflats and open water of the Mission Bay Northern Wildlife Preserve owned by the City of San Diego.

Despite major alterations to the surrounding land and water, this wetland is still remarkably productive, providing rich intertidal habitats for marsh plants and animals. The pattern of communities follows a classic vertical zonation of habitats from high marsh to submerged shoreline, each zone with its own spectrum of vegetation and invertebrates. Thousands of shorebirds visit the marsh and mudflats during annual migrations. At least two endangered bird species nest in the marsh.

Kendall-Frost is a valuable example of habitats once common throughout Southern California estuaries. Coastal salt marshes are know to be areas of enormous biological productivity as well as prime real estate for urban development. Mission Bay is a case in point. The heart-shaped marsh at the northern edge of the bay is a small part of the original wetland; yet tides still circulate through its channels, carrying nutrients to all its natural communities. The Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve protects these wetland communities for research and teaching through the University of California's Natural Reserve System

Selected Research

• The leptostraca* of coastal California: A survey based on morphological and molecular evidence. [*a marine order of the class malacostraca: which is a subclass of the subphyllum crustacea]
  
  
• The effect of different reproductive strategies on the genetic variation of eastern Pacific eelgrass taxa.
  
  
• Final hosts (birds and mammals) as determinants of community structure of castrating trematodes in California horn snails (Cerithidea californica).

Special Programs

Habitat restoration: Transplantation of marsh plants including pickleweeds; eradication of invasive mangroves; studies of erosion, sediment, and other factors degrading marsh habitats.

Student volunteer program: Students with special needs (learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and hearing impairments) from nearby Mission Bay High School restore and map the marsh, develop public outreach materials, and host events.

Public outreach: Interpretive kiosk depicts bird migrations with captions in English and Spanish; bird-watching events.