MARINe/PISCO: Intertidal: MARINe Coastal Biodiversity Surveys: Point Contact Surveys Summarized
Citation
Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (MARINe), Partnership Interdisciplinary Studies Coastal Oceans for of (PISCO), Hakai Institute, & Pete Raimondi. (2025). MARINe/PISCO: Intertidal: MARINe Coastal Biodiversity Surveys: Point Contact Surveys Summarized. PISCO MN. doi:10.6085/AA/marine_cbs.5.7. accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-06-21.Description
Long-Term Monitoring and Biodiversity Surveys done by the Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (MARINe) occur throughout the year at sites ranging from Southeast Alaska to Mexico. Long Term Monitoring surveys assess within-site community change over time, while Biodiversity surveys were designed to capture among-site patterns of community structure (abundance and spatial distribution of species). In combination, the long-term, targeted species approach and the biodiversity surveys provide a wealth of information about the structure and dynamics of rocky intertidal communities along the Pacific Coast of North America. This metadata record documents the Point Contact surveys for the MARINe Biodiversity Surveys. Biodiversity surveys are comprised of four components, all sampled along the same transects: (1) point contact estimates of intertidal cover and substrate characteristics, (2) swath transects to estimate the density of seastars and abalone, (3) quadrat sampling to estimate the density of mobile invertebrates, and (4) topography (elevation relative to mean low low water (mllw)). Selected sites are resampled on a 3-5 year cycle. A site is defined as a contiguous rocky bench of at least 30m. Point Contact sampling consists of recording the diversity and abundance of invertebrates and algae along 11 transects of variable length extending from the upper intertidal to the low intertidal. Please note that species of concern have been removed from all public datasets, as well as data from sites funded by the National Park Service (NPS) and the United States Navy. For a comprehensive dataset, please contact the data set owner(s). For more information about the data described in this metadata record, please visit pacificrockyintertidal.org. The long-term California MPA boundary and project info tables referenced in this dataset can be found as a separate dataset here: https://opc.dataone.org/view/doi:10.25494/P6V884Sampling Description
Study Extent
Intertidal coastal biodiversity surveys are conducted throughout the year at sites ranging from Southeast Alaska to Baja California, Mexico. For more information see https://pacificrockyintertidal.orgSampling
Point Point Contact methods photoContact sampling consists of noting the diversity and abundance of invertebrates and algae by recording what is found directly underneath or in the near vicinity of 100 points on each transect. Algae and invertebrate species, hosts and epiphytes, layering, and substrate characteristics are all taken into account. Each transect is surveyed using the point intercept method. Ideally, 100 points per transect are sampled. At each point three organisms are identified. This results in approximately 3,300 data points per site. Sampling intervals are determined based on the length of the bench. The organism that falls directly under each point is recorded first. Then the next two closest, but always different, organisms are recorded. Organisms living on another species are recorded as 'epibionts' and the organism they occur on is recorded as 'host.' Some examples of host organisms are mussels, coralline algae, barnacles, and colonial worms. If an organism under a point cannot be identified in the field, we assign it an "unknown" number and collect a sample to identify later in the lab. In 2017, we upgraded from using Palm Pilots to iPad mini's in order to expedite data recording and entry. MARINe contracted DiveNav to create an app specifically designed for the biodiversity protocol which includes regional species templates and error-checking features. Waterproof cases allow the iPads to function safely in the intertidal zone and in any type of weather. Data collected in the field are stored as CSV files and uploaded to the Coastal Biodiversity Surveys database.Method steps
Taxonomic Coverages
Geographic Coverages
Biodiversity Surveys are done at sites ranging from southeast Alaska to Baja California, Mexico.
Bibliographic Citations
Contacts
Pete Raimondioriginator
Univeristy of California, Santa Cruz
email: raimondi@ucsc.edu
Rani Gaddam
metadata author
position: Research Associate
MARINe/PISCO Research Group at UC Santa Cruz
email: gaddam@ucsc.edu
homepage: https://pacificrockyintertidal.org
Marine Lebrec
processor
position: Technical Manager
Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System
email: mlebrec@mbari.org
administrative point of contact
Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (MARINe)
homepage: https://pacificrockyintertidal.org
administrative point of contact
Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO)
homepage: http://www.piscoweb.org
administrative point of contact
Hakai Institute
homepage: https://hakai.org/