PISCO Kelp Forest Community Surveys

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In 1998, the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) designed and initiated a large scale, long-term monitoring study of kelp forest ecosystems along portions of the southern, central and northern coast of California and southern Oregon, USA. The program is administered out of the University of California campuses in Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara and funded primarily by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

The purpose of the study has been to characterize the regional and temporal patterns of kelp forest ecosystem structure and evaluate the relative contributions of biological and environmental variables in explaining observed spatial and temporal patterns. For this purpose, the ecological community and physical structure of kelp forest ecosystems have been surveyed using trained SCUBA divers. The biological structure includes the more conspicuous fishes, invertebrates, and macroalgae.

The physical structure includes geomorphological attributes (substratum type and vertical relief). Among other applications, these surveys have informed the design and evaluation of the state-wide network of marine protected areas (MPAs) established by California’s Marine Life Protection Act. Over time, the role of the monitoring program for evaluating the ecological responses to the establishment of the MPAs greatly influenced both the spatial and temporal design of the monitoring program.