Baseline Monitoring of Ecosystem and Socioeconomic Indicators for MPAs along the North Central Coast of California—Reef Check California

Through the Reef Check Foundation’s California program, experienced recreational scuba divers are taught, tested and certified to collect scientifically robust survey data for 73 rocky reef indicator species. Its monitoring program, ongoing along the North Central Coast since 2006, is a highly cost-effective means of gathering economically and ecologically important data, and is invaluable in educating the public about scientific methods and environmental stewardship. For the baseline project, Reef Check California volunteers will continue to monitor key indicator species annually at their existing five sites within and outside the new marine protected areas and will add abalone and urchin surveys to four of the protected areas and associated reference sites to be surveyed by Mark Carr’s group at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Fish surveys will also be added to four ongoing abalone and urchin surveys, conducted by the California Department of Fish and Game. During the course of the project, the Los Angeles-based non-profit plans to train about 32 new citizen-scientist divers in partnership with the Bodega Marine Laboratory’s scientific diver class and Sonoma State University’s recreational diver program. Data collected by the highly trained volunteers will be integrated into the final scientific report and compared to data collected by academic and agency staff to identify the most appropriate role for citizen science in monitoring protected areas.