BCLME III Coastal Biodiversity Surveys - rocky shores

A coastal biodiveristy survey was conducted under the BCLME III project. On the rocky shores of the selected stations, we ran (normally) five transects down each shore, on which the numbers and/or percentage cover of macrofaunal species present in quadrats we recorded. We used a quadrat that was 1 m long by 0.5 m wide (divided into 10 squares to add estimation), for Sylvia Hill we used a 0.5m by 0.5m quadrat. Four to five quadrats per transect were scored, covering the high shore (just above high spring tides, i.e., the Littorina zone), upper shore (roughly high neap tide), midshore (midtide), lowshore (low neap tide) and bottom (low spring tides). We always worked at spring tides to ensure we could cover the whole shore, although at times the swell did not allow to get into the lowest shore. Species observed at location but outside the sampling quadrat were also recorded. All species recorded at a station are included in the dataset.