Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Data Processing Description
• Data Files
• Related Publications
• Related Datasets
• Parameters
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Program Information
• Funding

BCO-DMO Data Processing Notes:
-All column names reformatted to comply with BCO-DMO standards
-nd was entered into all blank cells

Note: version 2017-08-16 replaces version 2016-10-07: LINGCOD UC was added.

Description from NSF award abstract:
The spatial structure and dynamics of coastal marine fish populations are strongly influenced by the transport and recruitment of larvae. However, the scale and patterns of larval dispersal are among the most difficult demographic parameters to quantify in marine systems, due to the inability to tag and track the movement of larvae. In particular, the extent of local retention of larvae versus regional dispersal to other locations and populations is currently a hotly debated topic in the field of marine ecology and has profound implications for the design and effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The research will identify patterns of larval dispersal and use those patterns to test predictions of dispersal generated by state-of-the-art circulation models.

The PI team brings together ecologists, geneticists, statisticians, and oceanographers with expertise in population demography and field sampling, mark/recapture data from genetic tags, and empirical and model-based evaluation of oceanographic processes to answer the following questions:
1. Do observed patterns of dispersal and connectivity of larval kelp rockfish correspond to patterns predicted by high spatial resolution regional ocean circulation models? Model predictions will be tested empirically using larval settlement samples. Parentage analysis will be used to verify the occurrence of larvae derived from genetically tagged source populations.
2. Is there evidence for local retention of larval kelp rockfish within the study area? To test the hypothesis that local retention of juvenile kelp rockfish from source populations is greater than expected by existing larval transport models, the PIs will compare the proportion of recruits that are genetically identified to have been produced from within three focal sites with the proportion of larval production that was tagged in those sites.
3. Is the relative recruitment of recently settled kelp rockfish to focal sites in the study region proportionate to the relative larval production of those focal sites? The PIs will compare the proportion of tagged recruits with the proportion of larval production generated from tagged adults at varying spatial scales. They will use goodness of fit models to compare expected and observed connectivity matrices under varying hypotheses of larval dispersal. Alternatively, if the relative contribution of focal sites to larval replenishment of themselves, one another, and more distant populations is disproportionate to their relative production, can this discrepancy be explained by oceanographic processes that could facilitate particular trajectories of larval dispersal?

To determine if differences in self recruitment and connectivity can be attributed to local oceanographic features, the PIs will examine spatial and temporal correlations between these features and the spatial distribution and timing of recruitment.

Related websites:
http://piscoweb.org
http://research.pbsci.ucsc.edu/eeb/rclab/kelp-rockfish-pbt-project/  (broken link)​
http://rockfish.ucsc.edu/
http://oceanmodeling.ucsc.edu

A key goal of ecology is to understand how species interactions -- competition, predation, mutualism -- influence the structure (e.g., biodiversity) and functions (e.g., productivity) of ecological communities and contribute to the stability and resilience of ecosystems. Kelp forests along the West Coast of North America have been a model ecosystem in which marine ecologists have explored these questions. That work has provided evidence that predators, including sea otters, sea stars, and fishes, can be important in controlling sea urchins that otherwise overgraze forests and create alternative "barrens" states, devoid of kelp. However, other examples suggest that disease and disturbance, not predators, suppress urchin overgrazing. Here we employ experiments and surveys to determine whether and how sea otters and sea stars act separately and in combination to control the rapid growth of sea urchin populations that is occurring in concert with a sea star "wasting" epidemic along the West Coast of North America. The results of this work will (i) advance our understanding of how multiple predators interact to influence community structure, stability and resilience, and (ii) shed light on how species interactions contribute to the stability of these forests that are the foundation of productive commercial and recreational fisheries. The project will involve citizen scientists contributing to surveys of sea otter abundance, foraging behavior and diet, and underrepresented (largely Latino) undergraduates and results will be disseminated in several public outreach facilities and K-12 educational programs.

This project will advance our understanding of the combined roles of species diversity and predators in contributing to the stability and resilience of community structure. Though both predators and diversity have been the focus of numerous studies, fewer have explored how predator diversity does or does not enhance the resilience of marine ecosystems. The investigators will determine the relative contributions of southern sea otters (Enyhda lutris lutris) and two species of sea stars (Pycnopodia helianthoides and Pisaster giganteus) in controlling the density and size structure of two prey species, the purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) and a snail (Promartynia pulligo), and the cascading effects on survival and density of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera). Orthogonal manipulations of predator access in large field enclosures/exclosures will be used to assess the relative roles of redundancy, complementarity and "sampling effect" (i.e. particular importance of either species) among the two predators on both direct mortality and indirect (trait-mediated) foraging behavior of their prey. The PIs will evaluate whether results from the experiments "scale up" to explain geographic variation in the relative densities of predators (otters and stars), prey (urchins) and the major primary producer (giant kelp) and the ability of sea otters to compensate for declines in sea stars to control the rapid growth in purple sea urchin populations that can otherwise cause phase shifts (forests to barrens) of these ecosystems.

The Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans is a long-term ecosystem research and monitoring program established with the goals of: 

• understanding dynamics of the coastal ocean ecosystem along the U.S. west coast
• sharing that knowledge so ocean managers and policy makers can make science based decisions regarding coastal and marine stewardship
• producing a new generation of scientists trained in interdisciplinary collaborative approaches

Over the last 10 years, PISCO has successfully built a unique research program that combines complementary disciplines to answer critical environmental questions and inform management and policy. Activities are conducted at the latitudinal scale of the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem along the west coast of North America, but anchored around the dynamics of coastal, hardbottom habitats and the oceanography of the nearshore ocean – among the most productive and diverse components of this ecosystem. The program integrates studies of changes in the ocean environment through ecological monitoring and experiments. Scientists examine the causes and consequences of ecosystem changes over spatial scales that are the most relevant to marine species and management, but largely unstudied elsewhere.

Findings are linked to solutions through a growing portfolio of tools for policy and management decisions. The time from scientific discovery to policy change is greatly reduced by coordinated, efficient links between scientists and key decision makers.

Core elements of PISCO are:

• Interdisciplinary ecosystem science
• Data archiving and sharing
• Outreach to public and decision-making user groups
• Interdisciplinary training
• Coordination of distributed research team

Established in 1999 with funding from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, PISCO is led by scientists from core campuses Oregon State University (OSU); Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station; University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC); and University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Collaborators from other institutions also contribute to leadership and development of PISCO programs.  As of 2005, core PISCO activities are funded by collaborative grants from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Core support, along with additional funding from diverse public and private sources, make this unique partnership possible.