Reef Check kelp forest long-term MPA monitoring: algae data

Reef Check California (RCCA) algae surveys consist of visual surveys performed by scuba divers. At each site, buddy teams of divers conduct eighteen 30 m x 2 m benthic transects, to monitor key species of algae. Each site is divided into two "zones" by depth (shallow 5-12 meters and deep 12-18 meters - or from offshore to inshore at sites with little depth variation) to assure that samples are distributed across the face of a reef from inshore to offshore. Algae are counted on 6 transects per site (3 transects in each zone). Each transect is a 2m wide x 30m long swath along the seafloor.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/P6V884