Scientific Monitoring/Reasearch/Literature

Vital to the success of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is biological and ecological research, particularly research that improves our understanding of determining the success of MPA designation. Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) is particularly important as we move away from simply protecting intertidal populations and move towards understanding how these ecosystems function so that we can better understand how to efficiently conserve our coasts. Without experimental research and monitoring, the effectiveness of MPAs could not be studied.

Laguna Ocean Foundation Research Programs

The foundation has been actively completing a resource assessment of the intertidal areas of the 7.12 miles of coastline in Laguna Beach. The assessment is hoped to provide a better understanding of local intertidal habitat in order to guide future education programs, policy and management plans.

Shorebird Count

In collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management, Point Reyes Bird Observatory and through the support and hard work of many volunteers associated with the local chapter of the Sea and Sage Audubon society the foundation has undertaken a year long shorebird assessment program that is hoped to develop into a long term water bird monitoring program. On given days volunteers divide the coastline into 16 different segments and all water birds seen on the rocks and sand of Laguna Beach are counted.
Click here for Recent Shore Bird Count

Monitoring

Several monitoring programs have been established at numerous Orange County MPAs.

In 1996, the Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (MARINe) established four locations (Shaw’s Cove, Treasure Island, Crystal Cove, and Dana Point) to monitor the abundances of target species. This network (http://www.marine.gov/), funded by various organizations including Minerals Management Services, US Department of Interior, spans across the California and Oregon coast encompassing 80 sites. For Orange County locations, California State University, Fullerton is currently monitoring the abundance of mussels (Mytilus), rockweeds (Silvetia), barnacles (Chthamalus and Balanus), red algal turfs (Endocladia), surf grasses (Phyllospadix), owl limpets (Lottia), seastars (Pisaster), and other important flora and fauna. Surveys of these areas are conducted every 6 months in the fall and spring seasons, starting in 1996 through the present.

The Orange County MPA monitoring programs was established in 2002 and continued until 2005. Surveys were conducted at three locations (Dana Point, Little Corona del Mar, and Treasure Island). Surveys were conducted to monitor the levels of human use and the abundances of various intertidal species including souvenir species likely to be most notably effected by human activities.

California State University, Fullerton has been surveying rocky intertidal flora and fauna at Dana Point and Little Corona Del Mar using transects from 2002 to the present. Percent cover of all species are measured along permanent transect spanning the entire intertidal habitat and are sampled approximately two times per year (summer and winter)

Weston Solutions, Inc recently established transect lines to monitor at Little Corona del Mar, Morning Canyon, Crystal Cove, and Heisler Park.

Coastal Resources Management is currently quantifying and characterizing human activities in rocky intertidal zones at Little Corona del Mar, Morning Canyon, Crystal Cove, and Heisler Park

The Montage Resort is supporting a monitoring program aimed to quantify levels of human use and determine the impacts of the resort on the rocky intertidal zone at Treasure Island.