MARINe/PISCO: Intertidal: MARINe Long-Term Monitoring Surveys: Photo Plots and Transects Summarized

Long-Term Monitoring and Biodiversity Surveys done by the Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (MARINe) occur throughout the year at sites ranging from Southeast Alaska to Mexico. Long Term Monitoring surveys assess within-site community change over time, while Biodiversity surveys were designed to capture among-site patterns of community structure (abundance and spatial distribution of species). In combination, the long-term, targeted species approach and the biodiversity surveys provide a wealth of information about the structure and dynamics of rocky intertidal communities along the Pacific Coast of North America. This metadata record documents the Photo Plot and Transect Survey data for MARINe Long-Term Monitoring surveys. Photo Plots are used to monitor percent cover of organisms within target species assemblages. Plots are established for a given species assemblage if overall cover at a site is sufficient for monitoring. Transects are used to monitor percent cover of surfgrass, kelps, and other algae. Please note that species of concern have been removed from all public datasets, as well as data from sites funded by the National Park Service (NPS) and the United States Navy. For a comprehensive dataset, please contact the data set owner(s). For more information about the data described in this metadata record, please visit pacificrockyintertidal.org. 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