The ecology of Tijuana Estuary, California : a national estuarine research reserve

Abstract

This is the first attempt to synthesize and interpret a rapidly growing data base on the estuary`s diverse biota - its vegetation, algae, birds, fishes, and invertebrates.^Because so many changes have occurred in response to recent catastrophic events, we describe how each aspect of the estuary appeared before 1980 and how it has responded to several perturbations.^The experimental tests of these cause-effect relationships have not been completed, and there is little reason to expect that environmental conditions have stabilized or that new types of disturbances won`t occur.^Thus, this profile should be viewed as a stage in the process of understanding Tijuana Estuary.^Like the estuary itself, our knowledge is continuously evolving.