MBON POLE TO POLE: ROCKY SHORE BIODIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS

Study Extent

This study was done in eight sites across the Gulf of Maine between 2016 to 2019.

Sampling

Sampling is organized following a stratified design, which includes LOCATIONS, SITES, and STRATA. Note that LOCATIONS are separated by 30 – 100’s of kilometers. For each LOCATION on this case it was only one. Those SITES will be separated by units of kilometers (maximum 5 km). The selected site was divided in TWO STRATA (tidal levels) parallel to the coastline using the almost universal biologically-based characteristics of rocky shores of high- and mid zones. In each stratum 5 QUADRATS were sampled, pictures from relevant animals were taken and animals and macroalgae samples were considered for further taxonomic identifications. In the 5 QUADRATS within each stratum (tidal level), slow moving animals are counted and the percentage cover of space occupied by invertebrates and algae. The latter includes those organisms that cover a considerable fraction of the rock surface and that are too many to be counted or cannot be easily separated into individuals; e.g., barnacles, mussels, some colonial invertebrates, including zoanthids and ascidians, algal turfs or macroalgae. Organisms adhering directly to the rock surface and moving across it are considered the “primary layer”. If canopy-forming organisms such as macroalgae are present, then these are moved aside for counts, cover and photographs in order to effectively quantify the primary layer. The composition of the canopy- the secondary layer- should also be conducted.

Quality Control

Taxonomic validity was verified using the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS; www.marinespecies.org) and the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS; https://obis.org/)

Method steps

1. Samples were processed following the rocky shore intertidal protocol developed during the Marine Biodiversity Workshop: from the Sea to the Cloud, at Praia do Segredo, São Sebastião, Brasil. August 6-10, 2018.

1. Dynamena
2. Semibalanus balanoides
3. Ulva lactuca
4. Hildenbrandia
5. Mytilus edulis
6. Ulva intestinalis
7. Littorina littorea
8. Littorina obtusata
9. Ascophyllum nodosum
10. Chondrus crispus
11. Mastocarpus stellatus
12. Vertebrata lanosa
13. Nucella lapillus

Rocky shores of Massachusetts, Maine USA: Pumphouse, Marblehead