Research Areas > Regional Monitoring > MARINe > Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (MARINe) Data Management System

Project: Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (MARINe) Data Management System

Background and Objectives

Seven different organizations currently monitor intertidal habitats in the Southern California Bight (SCB). These include universities and a variety of resource management agencies. Each program has its own specific goals, needs, and techniques for sampling, information management, data analysis, and data assessment. Historically, communication among these agencies was limited, and there was no mechanism for creating region-wide evaluations about the health of intertidal habitats.

When the Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (MARINe) was initiated, the goals of this partnership were to:

• Develop consistency and comparability among the different monitoring programs;
• Standardize field methods and taxonomy;
• Create an information management structure.

Methods

SCCWRP supports MARINe through ongoing information management and data assimilation services. Members of MARINe conduct rocky intertidal surveys every spring and fall. After these data are collected and compiled, they are then submitted to SCCWRP and appended to a centralized database housed on the SCCWRP website. Additionally, SCCWRP provides ongoing training for MARINe personnel regarding data analysis, and develops tools for running data queries and generating reports within the database. A copy of the MARINe database (structures only – no data) can be downloaded from the SCCWRP website by clicking on the image below.

Status

This is an ongoing project initiated in 2002.

Partners

MARINe collaborators include the University of California Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UC Los Angeles, and, CSU Fullerton, the National Park Service, the National Center for Environmental Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), and the Minerals Management Service (MMS).