| Summary: | 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. The Point Contact summary data include the percent cover of 20 of the most abundant species (or substrate classifications) observed across all sites during the Point Contact Surveys. This percent cover was calculated based on the first point only. The top 10 species were selected based on the total percent cover across sites. Additional species were then added to the selected species, based on regional differences between sites. The percent cover for the resulting 20 species is listed for each site, along with the overall ranking across all sites for each species. If a specific species is not listed for a specific site, that species was not observed on the first point during the Point Contact Surveys conducted at that site.
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