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    Shallow Rock and Kelp Forest Ecosystems, California South Coast MPA Baseline Study, 2011 to 2012

    Metadata Updated: July 24, 2025

    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.

    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.

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    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 bf5a5a45-9f3d-4391-ad5b-14f6be461111
    Data First Published 2017-12-22T20:59:33.548516
    Data Last Modified 2018-02-06T19:06:26.184753
    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 3a5d7729-892c-4bcd-a72d-eb03b68edaf8
    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 0feb613d43bacb4219e72d5bfed51141963804b71f8e2f44d6bc0e0bad15d0f8
    Source Schema Version 1.1

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