Kelp Counts and Bottom Cover Estimates Obtained by SCUBA at Shallow Nearshore Sites along the North Pacific Rim from Bering Island to Southeast Alaska during 1987-2021

The data consist of counts of kelps and estimated percent cover of fleshy red algae, other benthic algal cover, and non-motile invertebrates in quadrats from over 600 nearshore rocky bottom sites that were sampled by scuba between 1987 and 2021. The sites are from 38 locations on the north Pacific Rim ranging from Bering Island, along the Aleutian Island chain and the Alaska Peninsula to southeast Alaska. At each site, divers counted kelps and estimated percent cover of other algae and encrusting invertebrates in 20 quadrats along 20-25-foot depth contour. At a subset of sites, 40-foot depths were targeted. Quadrat size is specified in the data table but was 0.25 m2 at almost all sites. At the same sites where kelps...

Categories: Data; Tags: Aleutian Islands, Gulf of Alaska, Marine Nearshore Subtidal, Russia, Southeast Alaska, All tags... Southwest Alaska, Western Aleutian Islands, benthic ecosystems, biota, brown algae and kelp, Fewer tags

Benthic Kelp and Invertebrate Counts, California Sheephead Abundance, Substrate Rugosity Data, and Benthic Temperatures from Long-term Kelp Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Sites at San Nicolas Island, California

Four data sets are included here to aid in assessing the influence of substrate complexity on kelp forest ecosystem stability. One data set consists of counts of a suite of kelps and benthic invertebrates on permanent band transects (swaths) at six long-term monitoring sites from 1980-2018. A second data set consists of total counts of adult California sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher), an important sea urchin predator, on these sites from 1981-2018. The third data set gives an index of the relative substrate rugosity in the form of replicate distances along the bottom profile of each permanent swath. Finally, bottom temperatures recorded from 2015-2019 show the relatively homogenous water mass that encompasses...

Tags: Aquatic Biology, Attached Sea Urchins, Benthic Macroalgae, California, Northeast Pacific, All tags... Pacific, San Nicolas Island, Southern California Coastal, Substrate, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Wildlife Biology, bathymetry, biota, brown algae and kelp, kelp forest, marine fishery resources, ocean temperature, oceans, reef ecosystems, sea urchins and sand dollars, structure, Fewer tags

Kelp and Invertebrate Counts on Permanent Benthic Transects 1980-2018 at San Nicolas Island, California

The data represent counts of individuals of a suite of kelp and macroinvertebrate species on fixed 10-meter by 2-meter benthic transects on permanent subtidal monitoring sites around San Nicolas Island between 1980 and 2018. There were six sites, each of which had five 20 square meter band transects. The sites were usually monitored twice per year, most often in October and April. The species list is as follows: Stephanocystis osmundacea (formerly Cystoseira osmundacea), Laminaria spp., Eisenia arborea, Pterygophora californica, Macrocystis pyrifera greater than 1 m tall, Macrocystis pyrifera less than 1 m tall, Juvenile Laminariales (genus uncertain), Mesocentrotus franciscanus (formerly Strongylocentrotus franciscanus),...

Categories: Data; Tags: Attached Sea Urchins, Benthic Macroalgae, California, Northeast Pacific, Pacific, All tags... San Nicolas Island, Southern California Coastal, benthic ecosystems, biota, brown algae and kelp, kelp forest, sea urchins and sand dollars, Fewer tags