Kelp Forest Transect Surveys conducted along 30x2m transects on rocky reef habitats from 0-60 ft depth in Sonoma and Mendocino counties, Northern California. The data set includes depth of transect; number, size and species of abalone and urchins; number of associated species and predators; substrate type; percent cover of algal type along a 30x2m transect. Transect locations are identified by latitude and longitude at sampling and are stratified into 4 depth ranges: 0-15ft, 16-30ft, 31-45ft, and 46-60ft. This data and metadata were submitted by California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Staff though the Data Management Plan (DMP) framework with the id: DMP000061. For more information, please visit https://wildlife.ca.gov/Data/Sci-Data.

Here we provide one of the first systematic, “snapshot” surveys of the entire North Coast Study Region, from the Oregon border to the headland at Point Arena. Our attempt was to characterize these subtidal rocky reefs both inside of the newly created MPAs throughout the region and at comparable and representative reference areas outside of MPAs. We utilized small (19 and 22 ft) vessels for these surveys since representative reef habitats in this region are often remote and inaccessible from shore. These habitats are better represented in this study relative to those often reported on from the limited beach access surveys confined to small areas by other monitoring efforts. We used SCUBA surveys to measure the physical characteristics of rocky reefs and the relative abundance and sizes of many of the fishes, mobile and sessile invertebrates, and algae at each site. Species abundances were estimated along 30 m long swath surveys that count individuals within a 60 m² area or at predetermined points along a transect using uniform point contact (UPC) methods to estimate the percent cover of colonial and encrusting organisms covering the reefs.

Here we provide one of the first systematic, “snapshot” surveys of the entire North Coast Study Region, from the Oregon border to the headland at Point Arena. Our attempt was to characterize these subtidal rocky reefs both inside of the newly created MPAs throughout the region and at comparable and representative reference areas outside of MPAs. We utilized small (19 and 22 ft) vessels for these surveys since representative reef habitats in this region are often remote and inaccessible from shore. These habitats are better represented in this study relative to those often reported on from the limited beach access surveys confined to small areas by other monitoring efforts. We used SCUBA surveys to measure the physical characteristics of rocky reefs and the relative abundance and sizes of many of the fishes, mobile and sessile invertebrates, and algae at each site. Species abundances were estimated along 30 m long swath surveys that count individuals within a 60 m² area or at predetermined points along a transect using uniform point contact (UPC) methods to estimate the percent cover of colonial and encrusting organisms covering the reefs.

Reef Check California has surveyed rocky reefs and kelp forests in southern California since 2006 and has up to nine years of data from the MLPA South Coast Study Region (SCSR). The goal of this baseline monitoring project is to quantify key attributes of species, populations, communities and habitat variables that constitute representative kelp forest ecosystems within and outside of many of the MPAs in the South Coast Study Region. The sampling design, selected response variables (i.e. key species) and analytical approaches are intended to provide scientists, managers, stakeholders and policymakers with a baseline for future assessment of the effectiveness of the SCSR MPAs. Further, the outcomes from this study will also provide recommendations for long-term monitoring metrics and cost-effective survey protocols for the SCSR. Specific objectives are: 1. Provide a quantitative baseline characterization of the rocky reef and kelp forest ecosystem feature inside and outside of MPAs in the SCSR. 2. Provide pre-MPA implementation data and historical context to ongoing data collection by analyzing RCCA’s existing dataset in the context of the new MPAs. 3. Explore the baseline characterizations for potential indicators of the state of the kelp forest ecosystem (i.e. ecosystem indicators) and make recommendations for long-term monitoring. 4. Build capacity for cost-effective, long-term MPA monitoring through the continued involvement of community members in the monitoring of MPAs. 5. Expand existing public online data dissemination and illustration tool (NED) to inform managers, stakeholders, policymakers and the public about the status of the marine environment in the SCSR.

This part of DS 781 presents data for the habitat map of the seafloor of the Offshore of Tomales Point map area, California. The polygon shapefile is included in "Habitat_OffshoreTomalesPoint.zip," which is accessible from https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/781/OffshoreTomalesPoint/data_catalog_OffshoreTomalesPoint.html. These data accompany the pamphlet and map sheets of Johnson, S.Y., Dartnell, P., Golden, N.E., Hartwell, S.R., Greene, H.G., Erdey, M.D., Cochrane, G.R., Watt, J.T., Kvitek, R.G., Manson, M.W., Endris, C.A., Dieter, B.E., Krigsman, L.M., Sliter, R.W., Lowe, E.N., and Chin, J.L. (S.Y. Johnson and S.A. Cochran, eds.), 2015, California State Waters Map Series—Offshore of Tomales Point, California: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2015–1088, pamphlet 38 p., 10 sheets, scale 1:24,000, https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20151088. Potential marine benthic habitat maps were constructed using multibeam echosounder (MBES) bathymetry and backscatter data. The habitats were based on substrate types and documented or "ground truthed" using underwater video images and seafloor samples obtained by the USGS. These maps display various habitat types that range from flat, soft, unconsolidated sediment-covered seafloor to hard, deformed (folded), or highly rugose and differentially eroded bedrock exposures.

RCCA volunteer citizen scientists conducted 18 visual scuba transects at each monitoring site to survey densities and sizes of ecologically and economically important fish, invertebrate and algal species and to characterize the physical habitats. Transects were 30-meters long and 2-meters wide swaths above the rocky reef substrate. Divers counted and sized key species of fish (35 species), counted invertebrates (33 species) and algae (9 species), and estimated the percent cover of substrate types and vertical relief of the seafloor. Over the baseline monitoring of 2014-2015, RCCA conducted 18 surveys at eight monitoring sites in the NCSR. Three of these sites have been surveyed since 2007. The data from these surveys were analyzed at multiple scales to provide baseline characterization of the kelp forest ecosystems at the time of MPA implementation. We characterized the biological community at the RCCA monitoring sites by summarizing the physical and biological characteristics of each of the sites. These summaries will serve as a reference point in the future as long-term monitoring continues.

These data are from joint visual encounter and environmental DNA (eDNA) surveys conducted for northwestern pond turtles (Actinemys marmorata) in streams on privately-owned timberlands in northern California.

These data represents the results of vegetation plots in west-slope Sierra Nevada forests. There is accompanying point count surveys for birds (see Central Sierra Hardwood Study - Birds) made at these survey plots. Please be aware that the coordinates of the points displayed in the text data display of this data set are California Teale-Albers NAD27 projection, but that the data point viewer displays these data points and the background layers in California Teale-Albers NAD83 projection. TIME PERIOD COVERED. These data were collected during 2002 and 2003 between June-August by field crews working for California Department of Fish and Game.GEOGRAPHIC EXTENT OF THE RECORDS. Vegetation plots extend from El Dorado to Tuolumne counties in the central Sierra Nevada between 2000-6000 ft elevation.NUMBER OF RECORDS. There are 64 stands with habitat attributes measured from 3-4 0.2-acre sampling plots per stand. BASE DATA STRUCTURE. The file is a flat table which gives vegetation attributes for each stand. Each stand is represented by two key fields called "Quad" and "Grid" which relate these habitat records to bird survey data collected in 2003 from the same sample stands. WHAT EACH RECORD REPRESENTS. Each record in the table represents the stands site attributes, habitat attributes, and California Wildlife Habitat (CWHR) classification type. Average values for each stand represent the grand mean of average values from the 3-4 plots measured at each sample stand or the average of single measurements of attributes from the 3-4 plots measured at each sample stand.

These raster images represent continuous surfaces of estimated land cover types for the western Kenai Peninsula circa 1973, circa 2002, and circa 2017. The estimated land cover types (Needleleaf Forest, Mixed Forest, Broadleaf Forest, Herbaceous, Wetland, Alpine, Barren, Shrub, Water) were derived from a random forest classifier executed in R (version 3.5.0). Predictor variables from training data included known landcover types deduced from high resolution aerial imagery, summer and winter spectral indices obtained from historical Landsat scenes, and topographic parameters derived from a digital elevation model. For each era (c. 1973, c. 2002, and c. 2017) 3,600 training points (400 points for each land cover type) were randomly distributed within training areas and training areas were opportunistically distributed to capture the regional and geomorphic extent of each land cover type to the extent possible given availability of aerial imagery. Each training point was assigned feature list values from the Landsat mosaics and digital elevation model while land cover was manually interpreted using high-resolution areal imagery. Model output included predicted landcover types and was rasterized for each era to illustrate the classification of landcover. Raster values (0-9) for each era can be translated into vegetation type using the vegetation_class_table.csv. For the 1973 era, these raster images are at a 60 meter resolution. For the 2002 and 2017 era, raster image resolution is 30 meters.

These data are part of the Gulf Watch Alaska (GWA) long-term monitoring program, nearshore monitoring component. The dataset has one comma separated values (.csv) table with estimates of eelgrass (Zostera marina) percent cover. Eelgrass cover was estimated from sonar and video drop cameras deployed from boats following prescribed survey transects.