Abundance of Rocky Reef Fishes, Invertebrates and Algae, Reef Check California (RCCA), 2006 - 2017

Data in this collection include the abundance of organisms observed during Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) diver surveys conducted by Reef Check California (RCCA) volunteers in nearshore, rocky reef environments along the coast of California between 2006 and 2019. After completing training through RCCA, volunteer teams of divers select survey sites and perform surveys according to RCCA standard protocol. Since its inception in 2006, RCCA trained divers have conducted thousands of these surveys at hundreds of sites, including sites within more than 50 State Marine Reserves and State Marine Conservation Areas.

At each site, buddy teams of divers conduct 18, 30 m x 2 m benthic transects to monitor key species of invertebrates, algae and fish. For fish and algae, size measurements are also collected. Finally, the substrate type, biological cover and relief of the reef are characterized, using a Uniform Point Contact (UPC) sampling strategy. Each site is divided into two \"zones\" by depth: shallow (5-12 m) and deep (12-18 m). These zones are distributed from offshore to inshore at sites with little depth variation. Half of the transects are conducted in each zone. RCCA’s survey methods are based on visual census survey methods developed by the Partnership of Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) and have been modified so that they can be taught in a reasonable amount of time to volunteer SCUBA divers. Species are selected because of their ecological or economic importance or because they are of specific management interest.

Data are presented as three comma-separated values (.csv) files: RCCA_occurrence.csv, RCCA_event.csv and RCCA_MoF.csv. The occurrence file contains the presence/absence and density for 33 invertebrate taxa, 9 algal taxa and 37 fish taxa, identified to the Genus or Species level. The event file contains the location of each site, the depth of each transect, and the date each transect was conducted. The Measurement or Fact (MoF) file contains temperature and visibility measurements taken at the beginning of each transect, the UPC data from each transect, the number of stipes for each giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) observed, the length for each individual fish observed, and the minimum and maximum size for each group of fish observed. This data set was transformed from its native format into a table structure using Darwin Core term names as column names.

Original data, additional size data, and full description of methods can be found at these links:
https://opc.dataone.org/view/doi%3A10.25494%2FP6JS3M, https://opc.dataone.org/view/doi%3A10.25494%2FP69885, https://opc.dataone.org/view/doi%3A10.25494%2FP65K5W, https://opc.dataone.org/view/doi%3A10.25494%2FP6F30N

The data has these identifiers: doi:10.25494/P6JS3M, doi:10.25494/P69885, doi:10.25494/P65K5W, doi:10.25494/P6F30N

本数据集包含2006年至2019年间，由加州珊瑚礁检查组织（Reef Check California，RCCA）志愿者通过自携式水下呼吸装置（Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus，SCUBA）潜水调查在加利福尼亚海岸近岸岩礁环境中观测到的生物丰度数据。志愿者潜水团队经RCCA培训合格后，按照RCCA标准规程选择调查站点并开展调查。自2006年成立以来，经RCCA培训的潜水员已在数百个站点完成数千次此类调查，其中包括50多个州级海洋保护区（State Marine Reserve）和州级海洋保育区（State Marine Conservation Area）内的站点。

在每个站点，潜水搭档小组会布设18条30米×2米的底栖样带，以监测无脊椎动物、藻类和鱼类的关键物种。对于鱼类和藻类，还会采集其体型数据。最后，采用均匀点接触（Uniform Point Contact，UPC）采样策略，对礁石的基质类型、生物覆盖度及地形起伏进行表征。每个站点按深度分为两个区域：浅水区（5-12米）和深水区（12-18米）。对于深度变化较小的站点，这些区域从近岸到离岸分布。每个区域布设一半的样带。RCCA的调查方法基于海岸海洋跨学科研究伙伴关系（Partnership of Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans，PISCO）开发的目视普查方法，并经过改良，以便能在合理时间内教授给志愿SCUBA潜水员。所选物种因其具有生态或经济重要性，或具有特定管理价值而被纳入监测。

数据以三个逗号分隔值（comma-separated values，.csv）文件呈现：RCCA_occurrence.csv、RCCA_event.csv和RCCA_MoF.csv。occurrence文件包含33类无脊椎动物、9类藻类和37类鱼类的存在/缺失信息及密度数据，分类单元鉴定至属或种水平。event文件包含各站点的位置、每条样带的深度及调查日期。测量与事实（Measurement or Fact，MoF）文件包含每条样带开始时采集的温度和能见度数据、每条样带的UPC数据、观测到的每株巨藻（Macrocystis pyrifera）的柄数、观测到的每条鱼类的体长，以及每组鱼类的最小和最大体型数据。本数据集已从原生格式转换为表格结构，列名采用达尔文核心术语（Darwin Core term）。

原始数据、补充体型数据及完整方法描述可通过以下链接获取：
https://opc.dataone.org/view/doi%3A10.25494%2FP6JS3M, https://opc.dataone.org/view/doi%3A10.25494%2FP69885, https://opc.dataone.org/view/doi%3A10.25494%2FP65K5W, https://opc.dataone.org/view/doi%3A10.25494%2FP6F30N

本数据集的标识符为：doi:10.25494/P6JS3M, doi:10.25494/P69885, doi:10.25494/P65K5W, doi:10.25494/P6F30N