Dataset: Benthic community cover and counts in Sitka Sound and Torch Bay, Alaska from 1988 to 2019

Observations were made during May through September during six years ranging from 1988 through 2019.  At each site twenty quadrats were placed at random locations along a transect line.  Benthic species were either counted or the cover of the species was estimated in each quadrat. The species recorded were algae and kelps including giant kelp, bull kelp, sieve kelp, ribbon kelp, acid kelp, ribbed kelp, suction-cup kelp, and others.  

In 2019, only Agarum fimbriatum was counted, but prior to that year, the sieve kelp that was counted included all Agarum species. 

Small kelp is defined as kelp too small to distinguish the genus, typically less than ten centimeters (<10cm)

GPS coordinates are only relevant for data collected after 1988