Dataset Metadata Form
KELP FOREST SURVEY SITE LOCATIONS
“N_Coast_KelpForestSurveys_LOCATIONS_v4_20240105.csv”

ABSTRACT
The Kelp Forest Monitoring data record span surveys across 28 years from 1971 through 2023 at 20 locations on the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast, Northern California. Years without data, inclusive: 1972-1985, 1987, 1988, 1993-1998, 2002, 2020, 2021. These surveys are ongoing and are conducted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife dive team with participation from dive program partners at UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, Cal Poly Humboldt, Sonoma State and other dive programs and volunteers. Not all sites were surveyed in all years. Surveys prior to 2003 were not conducted by the same teams or with the same methods except that all surveys were done using Scuba along 30 x 2m transects randomly placed in the subtidal zone in rocky habitats dominated by bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana, forests. These randomly placed band transects surveys were stratified by depth (A=0-15, B=16-30, C=31-45, D=46-60 ft) as we know sea urchin and abalone populations differ by depth.
 
Data collected include the number of live, dying (in some years during the mass mortality events), and sea urchins (red-Mesocentrotus franciscanus and purple-Strongylocentrotus purpuratus), red abalone (Haliotis rufescens), pinto abalone (H. kamtschatkana), flat abalone (H. walallensis), as well as empty abalone shells (again in some years). Additional data collected (if scuba bottom time and/or air allowed): red abalone size, numbers or presence of associated species such as sea stars and predators, algal group quantification, and presence of bull kelp, substrate type. Data on algae and associated species differed depending on the year and the focus of the studies in response to ecosystem conditions but all years quantified sea urchins and abalones.

These data provide a baseline of biological conditions in the kelp forest before, during and after the major marine heatwave of 2014-2016 in northern California. These data were used to manage the recreational red abalone fishery by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife from 2002 to the closure of the fishery in 2018. These data are from the two Counties Sonoma and Mendocino County that had 95% of the bull kelp forests in northern California.

PROJECT
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Invertebrate Management Project North Coast Kelp Forest Surveys

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR	DATA MANAGER
Long Term Contact	Volunteer Scientist
Laura Rogers-Bennett	Robert R Klamt
rogersbennett@ucdavis.edu	rrklamt@gmail.com
707-227-7900	707-695-3959
Bodega Marine Laboratory	Bodega Marine Laboratory
Univ. California, Davis	Univ. California, Davis

LOCATION
Sub-tidal zone, 0-60 feet depth, North Coast of California, Sonoma and Mendocino counties

CRUISE
Day-trips aboard CA Dept. Fish and Wildlife or NOAA patrol boats, generally 2-5 days at selected survey locations.

GEOSPATIAL EXTENT
North:  38.44041	 South:  38.298218		East: 	-123.051900    West:  -123.830405

TEMPORAL BOUNDS
1971, 1986, 1989-1992, 1999-2001, 2003-2019, 2022, 2023

METHODS & SAMPLING
All surveys were done using SCUBA along 30m x 2m transects (60 m2 total area) randomly placed in the subtidal zone in rocky habitats dominated by bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana, forests. These randomly placed band transect surveys were stratified by depth (A=0-15, B=16-30, C=31-45, D=46-60 ft) as we know sea urchin and abalone populations differ by depth.
Divers are deployed as teams to randomly-selected GPS way points within designated depth strata (A, B, C, D). As with other surveys, the patrol boats provide support to the small boats and logistical support to divers. Divers typically complete multiple transects within each of the four depth strata ranging from 0-60 feet at each site. Divers swim along transect tapes measuring 30 x 2m in area across the rocky reef. All transects are in habitat which is dominated (>70% rock) by rocky reef. Two divers (a dive team) work together to count and measure organisms.
Emergent Surveys
Emergent sampling focused on emergent, exposed, or slightly cryptic animals but visible without turning rocks or the use of a flashlight. Data collected on the transects include depth of transect, dive number, the number of each species of abalone and sizes of live, dying (in some years during the mass mortality events), and dead abalone (red abalone, Haliotis rufescens, pinto abalone, H. kamtschatkana, flat abalone, H. walallensis), number of sea urchins (red-Mesocentrotus franciscanus, purple-Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) and size as time allowed, number of associated species and predators, substrate, algal type percent cover. Where needed divers mark abalone shells with yellow forestry crayons to avoid duplicate counts and measures. Data from each dive are recorded on waterproof datasheets which the divers fill out along the transect. Upon return to the boat, data sheets are checked by the lead diver to ensure accuracy and readability for the first quality control check.
Rapid Emergent Surveys
In response to the extreme purple sea urchin population increase and abalone mortality event in 2016-18, divers conducted a rapid assessment sampling technique: Rapid Emergent Abalone Surveys (REAS). REAS are similar to standard emergent surveys but focus on purple sea urchin and red abalone counts of live and dead abalone, allowing divers to survey more area. Divers conduct two to four rapid emergent transects per dive. On average 30% of the divers working with CDFW divers on the REAS surveys are volunteer citizen science divers or scientific divers belonging to other California science dive programs such as the University of California, California State University system or NOAA divers.
Primary data collected on each rapid transect are number of live, dying, dead red sea urchins, purple sea urchins, red abalone, pinto abalone, and flat abalone, as well as empty abalone shells. Additional data collected (if bottom time and/or air allowed): red abalone size, number of associated species and predators, algal group quantification (Uniform Point Contact), and presence of bull kelp. Abalone that were measured were marked with yellow forestry crayons to avoid duplicate counts and measures. As with the emergent surveys, the divers fill out data on waterproof datasheets along the transect. Upon return to the boat data sheets are checked by the lead diver to ensure accuracy and readability for the first quality control check.

INSTRUMENTS and EQUIPMENT
SCUBA Equipment
Handheld GPS, transect tapes, calipers, dive slates, underwater data sheets, pencils and erasers.

DATA PROCESSING
Data were entered from waterproof field data sheets into an Access database, where sorted and exported to Excel files. Once data were proofed, they were given a version number and saved in a text file as comma separated values (“csv”). If changes were made (corrections, data additions), the file was saved with a new version number.
PROBLEMS/ISSUES
Surveys were not conducted in 1972-1985, 1987-1988, 1993-1998, 2002, 2020, and 2021. Not all locations were surveyed every year.

RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Rogers-Bennett, L., and C.A. Catton 2022. Cascading Impacts of a Climate-Driven Ecosystem Transition Intensifies Population Vulnerabilities and Fishery Collapse. Frontiers in Climate, Ecology and People, Special Issue: Advances in Marine Heatwave Interactions. https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2022.908708
Rogers-Bennett, L., Klamt, R., C.A. Catton 2021. Survivors of climate driven abalone mass mortality exhibit declines in health and reproduction following kelp forest collapse. Frontiers in Marine Science: Global Change and the Future Ocean. 8: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.725134
Hamilton S. L., Saccomanno V. R., Heady W. N., Gehman A. L., Lonhart S. I., Beas-Luna R., Francis F. T., Lee L., Rogers-Bennett L., Salomon A. K., Gravem S. A., 2021. Disease-driven mass mortality event leads to widespread extirpation and variable recovery potential of a marine predator across the eastern Pacific. Proc. R. Soc. B.288. 

McPherson, M.L., Finger, D.J.I., Houskeeper, H.F., Bell, T.W., Carr, M.H., Rogers-Bennett, L. and R.M. Kudela 2021. Large-scale shift in the structure of a kelp forest ecosystem co-occurs with an epizootic and marine heatwave. Comm. Bio. 10.1038/s42003-021-01827-6

Arafeh-Dalmau, N., Schoeman, D.S., Montaño-Moctezuma, G., Micheli, F., Rogers-Bennett, L., Olguin-Jacobson, C. and H.P. Possingham 2020. Marine heatwaves threaten kelp forests. Science Letters 367: 635. Doi: 10.1126/science.aba5244

Rogers-Bennett, L. and C.A. Catton 2019. Marine heat wave and multiple stressors tip bull kelp forest to sea urchin barrens. Scientific Reports 9: doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51114-y

Rogers-Bennett, L., Kashiwada, J.V., Taniguchi, I.K., Kawana, S.K. and C.A. Catton. 2019. Using density-based fishery management strategies to respond to mass mortality events. J. Shell. Res. 38:485-496.

RELATED DATASETS
In addition to the locations of the surveys, the following data sets are available:
By transect from kelp forest surveys—
•	Counts of observed species
“N_Coast_KelpForestSurveys_ObservedSpecies_COUNTS_v4_20240202.csv”
•	Lengths of observed species, “N_Coast_KelpForestSurveys_ObservedSpecies_SIZES_v3_20240130.csv”
•	Percent coverage of substrate type, “N_Coast_KelpForestSurveys_SUBSTRATE_v6_20240408.csv”
•	Percent coverage of algal habitat,
“N_Coast_KelpForestSurveys_HABITAT_v3_20240408.csv”

Specific codes for observed species, algal habitat types, and substrate types—
•	“N_Coast_KelpForestSurveys_ObservedSpecies_CODES_v2_20240119.csv”
•	“N_Coast_KelpForestSurveys_ALGAL_HABITAT_CODES_v1_240122.csv”
•	“N_Coast_KelpForestSurveys_SUBSTRATE_CODES_v1_240122.csv”

PARAMETER INFORMATION
N_Coast_KelpForestSurveys_LOCATIONS_v4_20240105.csv	N_Coast_KelpForestSurveys_LOCATIONS_v4_20240105.csv
Column Name		Column Description	Units of measurement	missing data/ no data value	
SiteID	Acronym for the survey site location, e.g., ALB	alpha	NA	
SiteName	The name of the location, e.g., Albion Bay	alpha	NA	
Lat	Latitude at the center of the location.	Decimal degrees	NA	
Lon	Longitude at the center of the location.	Decimal degrees	NA	
ProtectionStatus	The regulatory status of the location, e.g., no-take MPA. NOTE: MPA=Marine Protected Area.	alpha	NA	
DFW_short_code	A code for the location 	alpha	NA	
CA_MPA_Name_Short	The shortened name of the MPA.	alpha	Blank field	
Notes	Notes pertaining to the protection level.	MM/DD/YYYY	Blank field	

KEYWORDS
Kelp forest, abalone, sea urchin, subtidal survey

Robert Klamt
Bodega Marine Laboratory, UC Davis
2024_05_02