MARINe/PISCO: Intertidal: MARINe Coastal Biodiversity Surveys: Point Contact Surveys Summarized

• Main Authors: Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (MARINe), Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO), Pete Raimondi
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: PISCO MN
• Subjects: Ocean; Intertidal Processes; Intertidal Zone; Marine Biology; Marine Invertebrates; Marine Plants; Marine Habitat; Biosphere; Aquatic Habitats; Coastal Habitat; Community Survey Data; Intertidal Data; Intertidal Community Survey Data; Intertidal Coastal Biodiversity Survey; SWAT Survey; Baseline MPA monitoring; Long-term MPA monitoring; Marine Protected Area (MPA); Biological data; Central Coast; North Central Coast; North Coast; South Coast; Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (MARINe); Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO); Algae; Invertebrates; PISCO; MARINe; Temperate Rocky Reef; Intertidal; Point Contact Survey; Percent Cover; Diversity; Abundance; Density; Invertebrate; Alaska; British Columbia; Canada; Washington; Oregon; California; Baja California; Mexico; Sonora; Baja; Gar’; Pisco; Diablo; Skagway
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.6085/AA/marine_cbs.5.3

This metadata record documents the Point Contact surveys for the Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (MARINe) Coastal Biodiversity Surveys. Point Contact sampling consists of recording the diversity and abundance of invertebrates and algae along 11 transects of variable length extending from the upper intertidal to the low intertidal. Intertidal surveys are comprised of four components, all sampled along the same transects: (1) point contact estimates of intertidal cover and substrate characteristics, (2) swath transects to estimate the density of seastars and abalone, (3) quadrat sampling to estimate the density of mobile invertebrates, and (4) topography (elevation relative to mean low low water (mllw)). Intertidal coastal biodiversity surveys are conducted throughout the year at sites ranging from Southeast Alaska to Baja California, Mexico. Selected sites are resampled on a 3-5 year cycle. A site is defined as a contiguous rocky bench of at least 30m. Please note that species of concern have been removed from all public datasets, as well as data from sites funded by the National Park Service (NPS) and the Navy. For a comprehensive dataset, please contact the data set owner(s). For more information about the data described in this metadata record, please visit pacificrockyintertidal.org. The long-term California MPA boundary and project info tables referenced in this dataset can be found as a separate dataset here: https://opc.dataone.org/view/doi:10.25494/P6V884