Baseline Data Collection for Rocky Intertidal Marine Protected Areas in the Central Coast of California

The objective of the project is to survey rocky intertidal areas within and outside of MPAs. Sampling will be coordinated with the two largest rocky intertidal monitoring programs in the state—PISCO and Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (MARINe). The surveys will focus on documenting community structure of target species assemblages (e.g., mussels, barnacles and surfgrass) and abundances and sizes of key species (e.g., abalone, owl limpets and seastars). Biodiversity and species/habitat associations will also be measured. The data will make it possible to study changes in fish and invertebrate abundance and diversity, as well as changes in the distribution and abundance of kelp itself.