These data are a compilation of currently available seagrass GIS data sets for the west coast of the United States. These data have been compiled from seventeen different data sources. The source data were acquired over a large range of time periods, at many different spatial resolutions using a variety of methods, including aerial photography, videography, multispectral sensors, sonar, and field surveys. Users are cautioned to use these data as only a regional view of seagrass locations. Areas without mapped seagrass may contain seagrass, but digital data were unavailable during this data compilation

The Shannon Index of diversity was calculated from diver surveys on kelp beds in Southern California. Kelp diver visual census data was combined for two separate southern California datasets. The Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) provided information collected at 15 sites, and Vantuna Research Group (VRG) at 29 sites. Visual transect surveys were completed by SCUBA divers along the bottom of the kelp forest. The VRG dataset provided fish counts along 2m x 60m transects which were subsequently averaged for comparison with the PISCO dataset. The PISCO dataset provided mean counts along a 2m x 30m transect which were doubled before combining with the VRG data. The diversity analysis included 84 species of fish.

Fish benthic trawls were completed by the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP). Data from 425 fisheries independent trawls ranging from 2-215 meters depth were collected in 1994 and 1998 during the months of June-August. Fish that were not present in at least 5% of the trawls were removed from this analysis. The data set contained information for 150 fish species, but removal of rare species resulted in 48 species. Site groups were calculated using the Bray-Curtis dissimilarity coefficient with average means clustering (Romesburg, 1991). Gear included a 7.6-m head-rope semi balloon otter trawl with 1.25 cm codend mesh trawled for 5-10 minutes at each station. For more information on trawl methods, see Allen et al. (1997), and Allen et al. (2003).

The National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) updates and revises the management plans for each of its 13 sanctuaries. This process, which is open to the public, enables each site to revisit the reasons for sanctuary designation and assess whether they are meeting their goals, as well as to set new goals consistent with the mandates of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Issues raised by the public during this process are evaluated and a determination is made as to whether they will be incorporated into the updated plan. Many of these issues focus on topics such as the implementation of marine zoning or sanctuary boundary adjustments, both of which require information on the distribution of resources within and around the sanctuary. Recognizing this, NMSP and NOAAs National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) formalized an agreement to collaborate in the revision process by developing such information through a series of biogeographic assessments conducted in selected sanctuaries. The resulting products are then supplied to sanctuary managers and staff for use in the policy and decision making process. This collaborative effort began along the west coast of the U.S. with the Cordell Bank, Gulf of Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, and is herein centered on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS).

This is a point file of mean fish diversity within 5 minute grid cells. The Shannon Index of diversity was calculated from Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP) fish trawl data. Data from 425 fishery independent trawls ranging from 2-215 meters depth were collected in 1994 and 1998 during the months of June-August. Using ArcGIS, 5 x 5 minute grids were created and mean diversity was calculated for each grid cell containing data. Gear included a 7.6-m head-rope semi balloon otter trawl with 1.25 cm codend mesh trawled for 5-10 minutes at each station. Including all fish identified to the species level resulted in 150 fish species. For more information on trawl methods, see Allen et al. (1997), and Allen et al. (2003).

We systematically surveyed 94 of the 122 nearshore rocky reefs in the California south coast study region (SCSR). This synoptic baseline survey was conducted at 75 individual sites in 2011 and 88 sites in 2012. In addition, we incorporate two similar ‘historical’ data sets from 59 sites in 2004 and 79 sites in 2008. From 2011-2012, we surveyed all accessible nearshore rocky reefs found in the SCSR MPAs and determined the appropriateness of references areas for each. This baseline provides, for the first time, a taxonomically exhaustive biogeographic assessment of the nearshore subtidal reefs in the SCSR, improving significantly on our knowledge of the region and incorporating newly established and existing MPAs. Results confirm previously described patterns for subtidal fishes, reflect the physical oceanographic complexities of the Southern California Bight and add new knowledge to biogeographic patterns of algae and invertebrates. The SCSR is characterized by strong environmental gradients, a major defining feature of the SCSR compared to the other California MLPA Study Regions that have relatively more spatially consistent physical environments. These differences are reflected biologically in a high degree of kelp forest community structure across the region. We identified 17 geographically cohesive community clusters, each with distinct fish, invertebrate, and algal assemblages (Figure ES.1). Although kelp forest communities in the SCSR are highly variable, the structure can be related to the sea surface temperature patterns caused by the confluence of the California Current, the Southern California Counter Current and localized upwelling. Benthic habitat structure also varies within the region; the geology and structure of island reefs are functionally different from mainland reefs. Mainland reefs generally are less steep, can be found significantly offshore of the coastline, and have a greater influence of sedimentation moving through the system. With few exceptions, island reefs are generally abrupt, high relief structures, tightly fit to the coastline with less influence of the nearby soft bottom habitat. Ideally, long-term monitoring of MPAs should be distributed across the distinct areas as each is likely to respond differently.

The National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) updates and revises the management plans for each of its 13 sanctuaries. This process, which is open to the public, enables each site to revisit the reasons for sanctuary designation and assess whether they are meeting their goals, as well as to set new goals consistent with the mandates of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Issues raised by the public during this process are evaluated and a determination is made as to whether they will be incorporated into the updated plan. Many of these issues focus on topics such as the implementation of marine zoning or sanctuary boundary adjustments, both of which require information on the distribution of resources within and around the sanctuary. Recognizing this, NMSP and NOAA?s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) formalized an agreement to collaborate in the revision process by developing such information through a series of biogeographic assessments conducted in selected sanctuaries. The resulting products are then supplied to sanctuary managers and staff for use in the policy and decision making process. This collaborative effort began along the west coast of the U.S. with the Cordell Bank, Gulf of Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, and is herein centered on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS).

The Klawock River on Alaska's Prince of Wales Island drains a 29,061 acre watershed with 132 miles of streambed habitat supporting seven salmon and trout species. Traditionally the river and lagoon supported salmon harvests exceeding 30,000 fish annually. The salmon fishery is an important economic factor and food source in the Klawock area. It is also an important cultural resource to local inhabitants. In 1964 a causeway was constructed blocking access to the lagoon from adjacent Klawock Bay. This has resulted in dramatic decreases in salmon harvests. The Nature Conservancy has lead a broad partnership to construct a culvert through the causeway thus re-establishing free passage between the river and Klawock Bay which is expected to help restore a full use of the river as spawning habitat by salmon and generally improve the quality of the lagoon. Benthic habitats in the lagoon and adjacent Klawock Bay and Klawock Harbor were mapped in spring 2011 to establish a baseline of benthic communities in the area with emphasis on eelgrass beds which are essential to the early survival of salmon fry. The habitat map will guide ongoing monitoring activities in the lagoon and form the basis of future change detection efforts. Aerial multi-spectral imagery was collected over the lagoon, bay, and harbor during the week of April 19, 2011. The mission was timed to coincide with the breaching of the causeway. The environmental considerations important to successful benthic mapping were incorporated into the mission planning. These included, imagery to be collected within 1.5 hours of a zero or negative tide, clear water conditions (no algal blooms, or sediment plumes from runoff), low winds to avoid surface waves, and sufficient solar illumination to image submerged areas. These collection parameters were defined by the Office for Coastal Management prior to collection of the imagery. Despite weather and water conditions which were not ideal, imagery adequate to map most of the habitats in the lagoon was successfully collected on April 19, 2011. Eelgrass habitats in the Lagoon did not have sufficient biomass or illumination through the water column at the time of the aerial mission to be mapped from that source so eelgrass habitats were determined by two field-digitizing processes, one in August 2010 and one in September 2011. The final hybrid map captures habitats 10m x 10m or larger and has the same positional accuracy as the source imagery. Field data to guide the mapping was supplied by several project partners. A comparison between the field data and the map shows high levels of agreement, although no traditional quantitative accuracy assessment was conducted. Original contact information: Contact Org: NOAA Office for Coastal Management Phone: 843-740-1202 Email: coastal.info@noaa.gov

This map service is a synthesis of the baseline characterization of kelp and shallow rock ecosystems inside and outside of several North Central Coast (NCC) MPAs at the time of their implementation. MPAs in the NCC study region (NCCSR) were implemented on May 1, 2010. Baseline characterizations were conducted by the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) between August and October of 2010 and 2011. Visual SCUBA surveys took place at sites within MPAs and at their associated reference sites (sites outside MPA) to establish quantitative baselines for measuring future MPA effects (i.e., changes in community structure due to MPA implementation). This particular map service focuses on PISCOs characterization of fish communities aimed at estimating fish densities and fish size distribution. Refer to the following link for specifics regarding PISCOs “fish survey design” and “fish sampling methodology”: http://www.piscoweb.org/research/science-by-discipline/ecosystem-monitoring/kelp-forest-monitoring/subtidal-sampling-protoco#FishSurvey.Surveys for baseline characterization of kelp forest communities focused on the following MPAs: Point Arena SMR; Sea Lion Cove SMCA; Saunders Reef SMCA; Del Mar SMR; Stewarts Point SMR/SMCA; and Salt Point SMCA. From Point Arena to Salt Point, 35 cells (fundamental sampling units) were sampled via fish transects (inside and outside of MPAs) using stratified sampling across shore and at various depths in the kelp forests (5m, 10m, 15m and 20m). Utilizing PISCOs GPS coordinates of the 35 study cells (points), and details from PISCOs methods (see link above), we created estimated footprints of the areas in which these transects were surveyed (the 35 fundamental sampling units). From there, we also estimated the aggregated site polygons (aggregate sampling units) that comprise either an MPA or an MPA reference site; this resulted in 12 new polygons that were representative of the kelp and shallow rock ecosystems surv

This dataset from the Channel Islands National Park's Kelp Forest Monitoring Program has subtidal temperature data taken at permanent monitoring sites. Since 1993, remote temperature loggers manufactured by Onset Computer Corporation were deployed at each site approximately 10-20 cm from the bottom in a underwater housing. Since 1993, three models of temperature loggers (HoboTemp (tm), StowAway (R) and Tidbit(R)) were used to collect temperature data every 1-5 hours depending on the model used.