Santa Barbara Channel Marine BON: Integrated quad and swath cover

The Santa Barbara Channel MBON tracks long-term patterns in species abundance and
diversity. This dataset contains counts of algae and invertebrates (both sessile and mobile)
by integrating data from four contributing projects working in the kelp forests of the Santa
Barbara Channel, USA. This dataset includes three entities, two data tables and R code. The main data table
number of organisms and the area over which that number was counted for calculation of areal
abundance. Data were collected by human observation (divers using SCUBA) during regular
surveys. The column labeled “count” records the number of organisms found at a given
timestamp. The algae and invertebrate counts record the number of taxa found in each plot,
including quad (small square plots such as 1 or 2 m 2 ) and swath
(large linear plots such as 60 m 2 ). See Methods for information
on integration and data processing. A second data table contains place names and geolocation
for sampling sites. Information is sufficient for the calculation of density, which is left
to the user. Sample R-code is included (third entity) to illustrate generation of a basic
table of areal density by taxa and sampling site. See Methods for information on integration
and data processing The four contributing projects are two research projects: the Santa Barbara Coastal
LTER (SBC LTER) and the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO),
and the kelp forest monitoring program of the Santa Barbara Channel National Park, and the
San Nicolas Island monitoring program supported by USGS. Together, these projects have
recorded data for more than 200 species at approximately 100 sites on both the mainland
coast and on the Santa Barbara Channel Islands. Sampling began in 1982 and is ongoing.