The Strawberry Creek ecosystem provides important habitat for plants and wildlife in the largely urban San Francisco metropolitan area. The ecosystem includes the Strawberry Creek watershed, contiguous East Bay regional park property and neighboring watersheds, and tidal mudflats and salt marsh at the outfall. As a source of nutrients and freshwater, Strawberry Creek supports the fisheries of the San Francisco Bay, and continued pollution prevention and restoration in the watershed contribute to the health of the fisheries.
Wildlife corridors between watersheds allow animals to range through a large system of undeveloped parkland in the East Bay. While many large mammals, such as grizzly bears and elk, were exterminated from the area long ago, the Strawberry Canyon wildlands still provide habitat for other large mammals such as deer, fox, and mountain lions. Several endangered or threatened plant and animal species, such as the Alameda whipsnake are known to inhabit the greater Strawberry Creek ecosystem. The corridor from the UC Berkeley campus to the Bay is largely culverted, restricting habitat for both aquatic and terrestrial life.
Historically, Strawberry Creek provided habitat for a seasonal salmon run and many other aquatic organisms. Urban development in the watershed, particularly the diversion of creek water for domestic use, is believed to have exterminated the fisheries by the end of the 19th century. Implementation of the Strawberry Creek Management Plan (SCMP) beginning in 1987 has led to a slow recovery of the ecosystem.
Protoctista
Fungi
Invertebrates
- Response of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities in the North Fork of Strawberry Creek to Discharge from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Water Main Break, 12 June 2005 by Erin Donley, Aquatic Ecology Laboratory of Professor Vincent Resh, University of California, Berkeley
- Mosquitos - West Nile Virus
- Water Strider (Aquaris Strider)
- Louisiana Swamp Crayfish (Procambarus Clarkii)
Fish
- Fish history report
- Laura Gold and other student reports
- California Roach Feeding (Hesperoleucus symmetricus)
- California Roach (Hesperoleucus symmetricus)
- Viewing California Hitch
Plantae
Strawberry Creek Vegetation Maps - 2003 Inventory
- Shrub Key
- Key to Reach Maps
- North Fork Reach 1 - Hearst to University House
- North Fork Reach 2 - University House to Haviland
- North Fork Reach 3 - Haviland Hall
- North Fork Reach 4 - Haviland Hall to Wickson Bridge
- North Fork Reach 5 - Wickson Bridge to Valley Life Sciences Building (VLSB) Bend
- North Fork Reach 6 - VLSB Bend to West Circle
- South and North Fork Reach 15 - Main Branch Oxford Street Walking Bridge to Oxford Street Culvert
- South and North Fork Reach 15b - Main Branch Oxford Street Culvert
- South Fork 1 - Little Inch Women's Faculty Club
- South Fork 2 - Little Inch and Big Inch Confluence - Men's Faculty Club
- South Fork 3 - 1910 Bridge to Stephens Hall
- South Fork 4 - Stephens Hall
- South Fork 5 - South Stephens Hall to Cribwall
- South Fork 6 - Stephens to Anthony
- South Fork 7 - Substation 1 to Sather Gate (A&E Parking Lot)
- South Fork 8 - Sather Gate to Dining Commons
- South Fork 9 - Dining Commons to Octagon Bridge (Wellman Parking Lot entrance)
- South Fork 10 - South of VLSB
- South Fork 11 - Star of David Bridge between LSA and Heating Plant
- South Fork 12 - Eucalyptus Grove LSA to Confluence
- South Fork 13 - Confluence of North and South Forks
- South Fork 14 - South Fork Confluence to Oxford Street Walking Bridge
Grinnell Natural Area Native Biodiversity Restoration Demonstration Project
- Project Description and Plant List
- GK-12 Program