SBC LTER: Reef: Kelp Forest Community Dynamics: Cover of bottom substrate and sand depth

These data describe the percent cover of eight bottom substrate
types as determined by a uniform point contact method. The type of
bottom substrate is recorded at 80 uniformly spaced points along
permanent 40m x 2m transects. Percent cover of each substrate type
on a transect is estimated as the proportion of the 80 points
contacted by that substrate type x 100. In cases where the
substrate type is sand, the depth of the sand is measured. These data are part of the SBC LTER’s time series observations of
kelp forest dynamics, which began in 2000 and was designed to
track long-term patterns in species abundance and diversity of
reef-associated organisms in the Santa Barbara Channel,
California, USA. The sampling locations in this dataset include
nine reef sites along the mainland coast of the Santa Barbara
Channel and two on the north side of Santa Cruz Island. These 11
sites were chosen to reflect the wide range of oceanographic
conditions present in the Channel and proximity to sources of
terrestrial runoff. Data are collected at each site once per year
in summer and this dataset is updated annually. The time period of data collection varied among the 11 reef sites.
Sampling at BULL, CARP, and NAPL began in 2000, sampling at the
other 6 mainland sites (AHND, AQUE, IVEE, GOLB, ABUR, MOHK) began
in 2001 (transects 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 at IVEE were added in 2011). Data
collection at the two Santa Cruz Island sites (SCTW and SCDI)
began in 2004. The two tables in this data package include: 1) The percent cover
of eight bottom substrate types; and 2) the sand depth of each
sampling point (sand depth = 0 if substrate type ≠sand).