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    • This is a Non-Federal dataset covered by different Terms of Use than Data.gov.

    Estuarine Ecosystems, California North Coast MPA Baseline Study, 2014 to 2016

    Metadata Updated: July 24, 2025

    The North Coast has 16 major estuaries that support a wide diversity of plant and animal life, including salmon and other commercially important species. The focus of this project is to describe and evaluate the ecological status of representative and under-studied estuaries in the region by surveying plants, invertebrates and fishes in tidal mudflats and eelgrass beds of four estuaries – three within MPAs (Humboldt Bay, Big River and Ten Mile River) and the Mad River Estuary. Field surveys will be conducted multiple times a year for two years to better document seasonal and interannual variability in species abundances and diversity, as well as changes in the sizes of focal species, such as bivalves, eelgrass, and black rockfish, among others. Estuarine ecosystems are largely driven by a complex set of interacting physical variables, including freshwater flows, seasonal closures of lagoon mouths and ocean water properties related to winds and upwelling. Information about these “abiotic” variables will be distilled to describe the “contextual conditions” in each estuary. During the analysis phase of their project, scientists will identify baseline and contextual metrics that might allow for future evaluation of MPA performance. This project is a collaboration among academic scientists, North Coast tribes, and ecological consultants.

    Access & Use Information

    Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. Non-Federal: This dataset is covered by different Terms of Use than Data.gov. License: See this page for license information.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Created Date September 8, 2021
    Metadata Updated Date July 24, 2025

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from State of California

    Other Data Resources

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Created Date September 8, 2021
    Metadata Updated Date July 24, 2025
    Publisher California Ocean Protection Council
    Maintainer
    Identifier f7263d5c-c85b-4f14-9273-15d59a9f8c4e
    Data First Published 2018-01-25T17:07:09.526318
    Data Last Modified 2018-02-14T20:13:54.354680
    Category Natural Resources, Water
    Public Access Level public
    Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
    Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
    Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
    Harvest Object Id 59ea36ed-059f-4bdb-992f-1dc1357e227b
    Harvest Source Id 3ba8a0c1-5dc2-4897-940f-81922d3cf8bc
    Harvest Source Title State of California
    License http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses/cc-by
    Source Datajson Identifier True
    Source Hash f665c00862b41a3c531917d2ca3e207eef834425cac3fcc5f97c1e3e19b8d509
    Source Schema Version 1.1

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