Swath surveys of shallow rocky reef and kelp forest habitats

This metadata record documents the swath surveys for kelp forest community surveys. Swath sampling consists of recording the number of all mobile or solitary/conspicuous invertebrates and stipitate kelp species on transects. Dimensions for all transects are 2m x 30m. Subtidal community structure surveys are conducted annually at all sites during the summer or early fall, and quantify substrate type and relief, benthic cover, abundance of major groups of macroalgae and invertebrates, and abundance and size of fishes. Spatial allocation of sampling is designed to measure year-to-year site-wide variability in community structure and the spatial scales at which such variation occurs. A site is defined as a fixed area of coastline comprised of 3 cells, each occupying approximately 500m. Each cell is comprised of 6 benthic transects stratified across the three zones described below.