Sanak Intertidal Community Horizontal Transect Data, Sanak Island, AK, USA, 2004

The objective of this biological survey was to document the intertidal community around the various habitats of Sanak Island, Alaska. This work was done in concert with a larger study assessing the terrestrial ecology, paleoenvironment (palynology and vulcanology), anthropology (ethnography), and archaelogical reconstructions of the history and prehistory of the island. Vertical transects were run perpendicular to the coastline to help characterize the zonation of the intertidal communities in different habitat types around the island. Abundance of all macroscopic organisms were quantified in these surveys. The transects were spaced somewhat evenly along the coast, independent of habitat. These transects spanned the intertidal, perpendicular to the shoreline, from Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) at 0 ft to the lower edge of terrestrial biota. Quadrats of ¼ m2 were monitored along the transect, placed every foot vertically. Regularly spaced and more frequent vertical transects were used to obtain higher resolution data on the presence and abundance of organisms within Pauloff Harbor. These transects were sampled at regular 300m intervals along the shore, between the most outer edges of the harbor.