Dataset: Seastar and chiton counts - quadrats and swaths
Deployment: CalifCoast_Gaylord_CHIPS

Quadrats for C. stelleri, Henricia sp., Leptasterias sp., P. ochraceus:
We exhaustively searched 32-40 one-meter square quadrats per site (i.e. 16-20 per each of 2 areas), recording GPS waypoint, time, percent cover of major habitat types, and abundances and sizes of target species for each quadrat. Quadrat locations were selected by first finding one of the target habitat types - surf grass, low-zone red algae, coralline turf, cobble or boulder field, urchin pools with pits either empty or occupied, or mussel bed - selecting a starting point haphazardly, and then using a random numbers table to choose specific quadrat locations. Some sites had fewer than 32 quadrats or quadrats smaller than one-square meter due to the limited time in which we could work in suitable habitat. For mussel habitat one 0.25 m x 0.25 m quadrat was used. For Jurgens et al. (submitted) we calculated the number of each target species summed across all quadrats surveyed within each of the two areas within sites.

Swaths for C. stelleri, Henricia sp., Leptasterias sp., P. ochraceus:
Timed, GPS-tracked, 2 m wide swath transects were nested within each of the two areas within all sites. From a distance, an approximate starting point and orientation (with landmarks) for the starting transect was selected.  The GPS was set to auto-record a trackpoint every 6 seconds. Transects ran from the most shoreward to the most seaward possible suitable habitat at approximately 10 m intervals along shore, particularly targeting the low zone when the tide was the lowest, with as many transects being done as permitted by the tide. The start and end of each transect was GPS waypointed and recorded. All target species were searched for across the 2 m wide swath, with intertidal zones and habitat type recorded. A waypoint was recorded for each individual target species, with any additional species found within a meter being counted and recorded for the same waypoint. When the field of view was clear some swaths were extended to 4 meters wide. For Jurgens et al. (submitted) we calculated the number of each target species summed across all swaths within each of the two areas within sites.