Final technical report - North Central Coast baseline surveys of rocky intertidal ecosystems

The objective of the rocky intertidal surveys and analyses for the North Central Coast Baseline Surveys are to (1) produce a quantitative baseline characterization of the structure of rocky intertidal ecosystems in all of the Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that have rocky intertidal habitats established by the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative in the North Central Coast Study Region (NCCSR), (2) provide a quantitative comparison between the rocky intertidal ecosystems in these MPAs and associated reference areas in the NCCSR, (3) analytically explore the baseline characterizations for potential indicators of the state of the rocky intertidal ecosystems using newly collected data along with our existing datasets from the region, and (4) integrate these assessments with other components of the baseline survey to inform the role and design of those programs for a future monitoring and evaluation program.The goal of this report and the associated survey data is to provide a baseline characterization summary of the Rocky Intertidal Ecosystems in the NCCSR (1 and 2 above). These data can then be used for future synthesis and integration efforts across the other projects associated with the North Central Coast Baseline Program (3 and 4 above).