SBC LTER: Reef: Long-term experiment: Kelp removal: Detritus biomass

These data describe the abundance of macroalgal detritus (grams
wet mass m -2 ) within permanent plots of
a long-term experiment designed to examine trajectories of change
in the structure and productivity of kelp forest communities in
response to changes in the frequency and severity of disturbance
to giant kelp. Detritus was collected in six permanent 1
m 2 quadrats positioned uniformly along
40 m transects in each sampling plot. Macroalgal detritus is not
collected in plots of the continual kelp removal treatment. Sample
collections were brought back to the laboratory, identified to
species and weighed wet. The experiment was initiated in 2008 at
five reef sites along the mainland coast of the Santa Barbara
Channel and included an annual kelp removal treatment designed to
simulate increases in the frequency and severity of winter wave
disturbance and a continual kelp removal treatment that allowed
the effects of giant kelp on the community to be evaluated. The
last experimental removals of giant kelp occurred in winter 2016
or winter 2017, depending on the site. Data collection continued
in all plots until spring 2023 to document the recovery trajectory
of the reef fish community following the cessation of experimental
kelp removal.