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Sandy Beach Ecosystems, California South Coast MPA Baseline Study, 2011 to 2013

Published by California Ocean Protection Council | State of California | Metadata Last Checked: July 29, 2025 | Last Modified: 2018-01-25T20:14:58.307264
Sandy beaches are among the most intensely used coastal ecosystems for human recreation and are vitally important to coastal economies. Beaches support unique biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem functions and services including endemic invertebrate communities and food webs that are prey for birds and fish, buffering and absorption of wave energy by stored sand, filtration of large volumes of seawater, extensive detrital processing and nutrient recycling, and the provision of critical habitat and resources for declining and endangered wildlife, such as shorebirds and pinnipeds. Sandy beaches compose 36% of the 693 km of shoreline in the South Coast (SC) region, including the California Channel Islands. The goal of this ecological characterization study is to provide a quantitative, baseline description of sandy beach ecosystems in the region from which future ecological changes may be assessed, and to document any differences that may already exist between sandy beaches located within and outside of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). We also evaluated potential ecological indicators for monitoring and developed and tested new protocols for potential use by citizen-scientists and educators.

Resources

38 resources available

  • Biodiversity Surveys - Physical Characteristics Data, 2011

    CSV
  • Rapid Surveys, Birds, Kelp, People, Dog, Kelp - Data 2011-2013

    CSV
  • MPA Baseline Program - Lookup Table

    CSV
  • MPA Baseline Program - Lookup Table Metadata

    CSV
  • Rapid Surveys, Weather - Data, 2011-2013

    CSV
  • Indicator Taxa Surveys - Lookup Table Data

    CSV
  • Macrophyte Wrack, Monthly Surveys - Data, 2011-2013

    CSV
  • Indicator Taxa Surveys - Talitrid Cores Data, 2012

    CSV
  • Macrophyte Wrack, Surveys - Metadata, 2011-2013

    CSV
  • Biodiversity Surveys, Intertidal - Metadata, 2011

    CSV
  • Macrophyte Wrack, Surveys - Metadata, 2011-2013

    CSV
  • Macrophyte Wrack - Species Lookup Table

    CSV
  • Biodiversity Surveys - Taxonomy Lookup Table

    CSV
  • MPA Basline Program - Beach Site Name Lookup Table Metadata

    CSV
  • Rapid Surveys, Birds, Kelp, People, Dog, Kelp - Metadata 2011-2013

    CSV
  • Biodiversity Surveys - Physical Characteristics Metadata, 2011

    CSV
  • Indicator Taxa Surveys - Emerita Data, 2012-2013

    CSV
  • Indicator Taxa Surveys - Talitrid Cores Metadata, 2012

    CSV
  • Indicator Taxa Surveys - Emerita Metadata, 2012-2013

    CSV
  • Biodiversity Surveys - Methods and Sampling Metadata

    CSV
  • Biodiversity Surveys - Taxonomy Lookup Table Metadata

    CSV
  • MPA Baseline Program - Beach Site Name Lookup Table

    CSV
  • Rapid Surveys, Weather - Metadata, 2011-2013

    CSV
  • Macrophyte Wrack, Surveys - Data, 2011-2013

    CSV
  • Macrophyte Wrack - Species Lookup Table Metadata

    CSV
  • MPA Baseline Program - Boundary Information Lookup Table Metadata

    CSV
  • Physical Characteristics, Beach Sediment - Data, 2011-2013

    CSV
  • Biodiversity Surveys, Intertidal - Data, 2011

    CSV
  • Final Report: Baseline Characterization of the Sandy Beach Ecosystems Along the South Coast of California, 2011-2013

    PDF
  • MPA Baseline Program - Boundary Information Lookup Table

    CSV
  • Physical Characteristics, Monthly Surveys - Metadata, 2011-2013

    CSV
  • Indicator Taxa Surveys - Sticky Trap Metadata, 2011-2013

    CSV
  • Physical Characteristics, Beach Sediment - Metadata, 2011-2013

    CSV
  • Macrophyte Wrack, Surveys - Methods and Sampling Metadata

    PDF
  • Macrophyte Wrack, Monthly Surveys - Methods and Sampling Metadata

    PDF
  • Physical Characteristics, Monthly Surveys - Data, 2011-2013

    CSV
  • Indicator Taxa Surveys - Sticky Trap Data, 2011-2013

    CSV
  • Full Data Package for Sandy Beach Ecosystems, California South Coast MPA Baseline Study

    ZIP

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