Bull Kelp Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Database, Northern California, 1971-2019 (ongoing)

Kelps are critical habitat structuring organisms forming dense underwater forests in nearshore rocky reefs of northern California. Kelp forests support a range of species such as red abalone and red sea urchins which form the basis for important invertebrate fisheries in the region. Along with fisheries, kelp forests provide a suite of other ecosystem services including supporting biodiversity and carbon sequestration, making them critical habitats to monitor. Monitoring of kelps and kelp obligate species is now more important than ever with the intensification of ocean changes such as marine heatwaves, low oxygen events and ocean acidification. Changes in kelp forest ecosystems associated with fishing can be observed inside fished sites whereas changes in protected sites suggests region wide stressors. In this long-term, bull kelp forest monitoring program, divers quantify key marine invertebrates, algal cover and substrate types along transects inside and outside fished sites centered in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties, in northern California. As nearshore kelp forest ecosystems face increasing stressors, long term monitoring programs will be critical for informing fishery management, restoration strategies and marine spatial planning.