North Central Coast: target species surveys in beach ecosystems

This metadata record documents target species surveys of sand crabs, Emerita analoga, and wrack-associated amphipods (Talitridae) for the California North Central Coast MPA baseline characterization of sandy beaches conducted between June and August 2010. Sand crabs are widespread, typically dominate the total biomass of invertebrate macrofauna on sandy beaches, feed on phytoplankton and are prey for surfzone fishes, shorebirds and some seabirds. Talitrid amphipods (Megalorchestia spp. in California) are also widespread, reflect the total abundance of wrack-associated macrofauna, directly feed on macrophyte wrack and are also prey for shorebirds and fishes. These organisms are also relatively easy to sample, identify and enumerate and thus are excellent target species for long-term monitoring. From the target species surveys we quantified: 1) the abundance of sand crabs and talitrid amphipods; 2) wrack cover by type; and 3) physical characteristics of the beach and surf zone on cross-shore transects.This dataset was originally uploaded to Oceanspaces (http://oceanspaces.org/) in 2013 as part of the North Central Coast baseline monitoring program. In 2020 the baseline data and reports were uploaded to the California Ocean Protection Council Data Repository by Mike Esgro ([e-mail]) and Rani Gaddam ([e-mail]). Every attempt has been made to include all of the original data, metadata, and reports submitted in 2013, but please contact the Data Set Contacts with any questions. The long-term California MPA boundary and project info tables referenced in this dataset can be found as a separate dataset here: https://opc.dataone.org/view/doi:10.25494/P64S3W