SBC LTER: Reef: Long-term experiment: Kelp removal: Cover of sessile organisms, Uniform Point Contact

These data describe the percent cover of sessile invertebrates and understory macroalgae within permanent plots of a long-term experiment designed to examine trajectories of change in the structure and productivity of kelp forest communities in response to changes in the frequency and severity of disturbance to giant kelp. Percent cover was determined using a uniform point contact method that consists of noting the identity and relative vertical position of all organisms under 80 uniformly placed points located within a 1 m wide band centered on permanent 40 m transects in each sampling plot. Each species may only be recorded once per point. Using this method, the percent cover of all species combined may exceed 100%, however, the maximum percent cover possible for any single species cannot exceed 100%. The experiment was initiated in 2008 at five reef sites along the mainland coast of the Santa Barbara Channel and included an annual kelp removal treatment designed to simulate increases in the frequency and severity of winter wave disturbance and a continual kelp removal treatment that allowed the effects of giant kelp on the community to be evaluated. The last experimental removals of giant kelp occurred in winter 2016 or winter 2017, depending on the site. Data collection continued in all plots until spring 2023 to document the recovery trajectory of the reef fish community following the cessation of experimental kelp removal.