Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • BCO-DMO Processing Description
  • Problem Description
• Data Files
• Supplemental Files
• Related Publications
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Project Information
• Program Information
• Funding

This time series was funded in conjunction with the Long Term Research in Environmental Biology [LTREB] program including the LTREB project listed on this page (Award DEB-2050017) and prior awards (Award DEB-1050694,DEB-1554702).

PISCO = Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans
MARINe = Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network

To characterize the temperature regime at each site, we used existing temperature loggers deployed by the PISCO and MARINe research programs. Temperature loggers (HOBO TidBit v2 by Onset) were deployed at fixed locations inside steel mesh cages, set to record every 15 mins, and swapped every ~6-12 months. Once loggers were collected, we assigned the tidal levels for each site and time stamp using Xtide software (https://flaterco.com/xtide/files.html) and the nearest harmonic tidal station. See Gravem et al. (2024, doi:10.1111/jbi.15029; Appendix S1, Table S1.2a). We graphed the temperature and the tide heights for each logger, and used this to visually estimate the shore level of the logger to the nearest 0.5 ft (air temperatures have clearly higher variance than water temperatures). We assigned any tide height higher than the logger height as “water” and any tide height lower than the logger height as “air”. We calculated the daily average mean and maximum air and water temperatures at each site. We also calculated the average daily mean, minimum and maximum water temperature. On wavy days, temperatures assigned as air temperatures probably intermittently submerged. However, we are more interested in air temperature stress than average air temperature, so our focal air temperature metric was maximum daily air temperature, which likely occurred during the lowest tides when waves were not washing over the loggers.

Note: sitelist_stars.csv contains site codes (SiteCode_OSU and SiteCode_PISCO) that can be used to associate data between the data tables 990924_v1_daily-intertidal-temps.csv and templogger-site-metadata.csv.

* Table within the submitted file "Temps_Daily.csv"(file version uploaded 2026-05-07) was imported into the BCO-DMO data system for this dataset. Values "NA" imported as missing data values. Table will appear as Data File: 990924_v1_daily-intertidal-temps.csv (along with other download format options).

* Sheet 1 within file "TempLogger_LatLongShoreLevel_2023-11-17_SAG.xlsx" was imported and appears in this dataset as "templogger-site-metadata.csv"

* Table within BCODMO_SiteList_STARS_2023-04-11_SAG.xlsx added as supplemental file sitelist_stars.csv

Missing Data Identifiers:
* In the BCO-DMO data system missing data identifiers are displayed according to the format of data you access. For example, in csv files it will be blank (null) values. In Matlab .mat files it will be NaN values. When viewing data online at BCO-DMO, the missing value will be shown as blank (null) values.

* Column names in the supplemental table were adjusted to conform to BCO-DMO naming conventions designed to support broad re-use by a variety of research tools and scripting languages. [Only numbers, letters, and underscores. Can not start with a number]

* lat and lon values rounded to five decimal places

* daily_meantemp_c contained long decimals and was rounded to two decimal places as consistent with the precision shown in the daily_mintemp_c and daily_maxtemp_c columns.

* Site list exported from supplied SiteList_STARS.xlsx(version from 2026-05-11) Sheet1 after changing date format to ISO 8601. Attached to dataset as sitelist_stars.csv. Sheet2 contained column information which was added to the sitelist_stars.csv file description after modifications to match the data table (description for column "state" added, column name "LoggerCode_OSU" is "OldLoggerCode_OSU" in data table).

Algal Communities in Distress: Impacts and Consequences (ACIDIC)

Environmental stress models have recently been modified to incorporate the influence of facilitation to join negative effects such as predation, competition, and abiotic stress as determinants of community structure. Nevertheless, our empirical understanding of the processes that regulate the expression of facilitation effects across systems and the potential for facilitation to amplify or dampen the ecological consequences of climate change remains limited. This project focuses on facilitation dynamics in the broader meta-ecosystem concept, which hypothesizes that variation among communities depends not only on locally-varying species interactions and impacts of abiotic factors such as environmental stress and physical disturbance but also on regionally- and globally-varying ecosystem processes such as dispersal and flows of materials such as nutrients and carbon. The investigators will study the influence of a potentially critical facilitative interaction between coralline algal turfs and canopy-forming macrophytes including kelps and surfgrass in a rocky intertidal meta-ecosystem. The research will be conducted in a climate change context, with a focus on how the macrophyte-coralline interaction is influenced by ocean conditions, including factors driven by variable upwelling (temperature, nutrients, phytoplankton abundance, and light) and increases in ocean acidification, which vary in a mosaic pattern along the coast of the northern California Current (NCC) in Oregon and northern California.

The goal of the project is to test the hypothesis that the coralline turf-macrophyte canopy interaction is a cardinal interaction in the determination of low rocky intertidal community structure, and that disruption of this interaction would dramatically alter the structure and function of this kelp- and surfgrass-dominated assemblage. The project will take advantage of, and enhance, a research platform established across 17 sites spanning ~800 km in the NCC coastal meta-ecosystem with prior NSF funding that will at each site: (1) quantify ocean conditions, including temperature, nutrients, phytoplankton, light (PAR), and carbonate chemistry to document the response of community structure oceanographic variation across a meta ecosystem mosaic; (2) carry out field experiments testing the nature of the interaction between coralline algal turfs (primarily Corallina vancouveriensis) and dominant canopy species, the kelp Saccharina sessile and the surfgrass Phyllospadix scouleri; and (3) carry out laboratory experiments focusing on the mechanism of the interaction, specifically testing the effects of carbonate chemistry, light, temperature, and nutrients. Component (1) will employ both remote sensors deployed in the intertidal (fluorometers, thermal sensors, PAR sensors, and a recently developed pH sensor) and direct sampling (nutrients, phytoplankton, pCO2, and pH) to quantify the in situ exposure regime of benthic primary producers to resources, energy, and environmental stress across spatial scales. These metrics will be combined with a newly developed index for quantifying local-scale variation in upwelling intensity to characterize the linkages between climate forcing and ecosystem state. Coupling oceanography with our field and laboratory experiments will provide unique and valuable insights into how the current state of rocky intertidal ecosystems is likely to be altered in the future.

Intellectual Merit. The project will contribute one of the first studies to test the community consequences of varying upwelling and CO2 across an ecosystem scale. How these factors alter the direct and indirect interactions of key species is of fundamental importance in our efforts to learn how field ecosystems will respond to climate change. Such knowledge is crucial to our efforts to manage and conserve marine communities facing human-induced variation in climate.

Collaborative Research: Scaling up from community to meta-ecosystem dynamics in the rocky intertidal - a comparative-experimental approach

The meta-ecosystem concept hypothesizes that the dynamics of ecological communities reflect interdependence between local-scale and ecosystem processes that vary across large distances. Thus, variation among communities depends not only on locally-varying species interactions and abiotic factors, such as physical disturbance, but also on regionally- and globally-varying ecosystem processes, such as dispersal and flows of materials such as nutrients and carbon. This study of rocky intertidal communities and the factors underlying their variation addresses the issue of meta-ecosystem dynamics. The goal of this project is to understand how variability in oceanographic subsidies, such as nutrients and phytoplankton, influences benthic community structure in the northern California Current Large Marine Ecosystem. Local-scale variation in upwelling along the Oregon and northern California coasts will be used to understand how changes in nutrients and productivity influence benthic-pelagic coupling, its effect on benthic species interactions, and ultimately rocky intertidal community structure. A conceptual model, in which the independent variable is seawater temperature (SWT), is used to predict how the dual effect of nutrients and light on marine benthic and pelagic primary production generates different community outcomes in the low intertidal zone. The two "endpoints" of community structure are a dominance of filter feeding invertebrates or macroalgae. The model predicts that with low (cold) SWT, nutrient and light availability is high, and macrophytes are dominant. Under very high nutrients and light, competitively dominant kelps will prevail and possibly facilitate stress-intolerant macroalgal species, and as nutrients and light diminish, kelp dominance should switch to dominance by surfgrass and foliose understory algae. With higher (warmer) SWT, conditions favor high phytoplankton production, leading to dominance by sessile invertebrates. High phytoplankton also creates low light and low nutrient conditions, negatively affecting growth of macroalgae and their ability to compete with sessile invertebrates. Research will be conducted at 15 sites nested within five capes spanning the 1300 km range of the study region. A water sampling program will quantify concentrations of nutrients and phytoplankton, field-deployed remote sensors will provide time-series estimates of light and chlorophyll a, and surveys will quantify community structure. Manipulative field experiments will test the role of species interactions on community structure and how interactions vary with ecological subsidies.

This study will investigate the ecological consequences of the decimation of sea star populations by wasting disease along the Oregon coast. Hallmarks of wasting disease are the formation of sores on the sea star that progress to cause loss of arms, and ultimately death of the animal. Wasting disease was reported in sea star populations including those of the purple sea star, Pisaster ochraceus, in British Columbia, Washington, and California as early as April 2013. In Oregon, wasting was first observed in April 2014, and by June 2014 rates of infection ranged up to 80%, and sea star abundance had declined. At that rate, many populations may disappear by the end of summer 2014. Prior research has shown that in the absence of the purple sea star, mid-shore mussel populations increase, and ultimately overgrow the sea weeds and invertebrates that occur low on the shore, reducing biodiversity. However, because disease events of this magnitude have never occurred along the entire coastline, it is unclear if the small-scale expansion of mussels observed previously will be a general result of this event. One possibility is that predators unaffected by wasting, such as whelks and crabs, will increase their predation effects and blunt the expected invasion of mussels to the low shore. The research in this project will evaluate this possibility by testing the role of these alternative predators. Broader Impacts include the training of undergraduate and graduate students, the involvement of coastal residents and the production of microdocumentaries and video to document the changing context of this ecosystem.

The research project is designed to test three hypotheses. First, that in the absence of Pisaster ochraceus, predation by whelks will increase in strength through increases in whelk abundance and in whelk size, and at least partially compensate for the absence of Pisaster. Second, the small sea star Leptasterias spp. will also expand its role as a predator through increased size and abundance, and expansion of its habitat beyond mussel beds. Although individuals of this sea star have been observed to suffer from wasting as well, the frequency so far appears low, and it seems likely this species may persist. Third, the crab Cancer productus, normally mostly a subtidal species, will expand its range into the intertidal and help to compensate for the loss of Pisaster. Tests of these hypotheses will include manual removal experiments (whelk removal, Leptasterias removal, removal of both and of neither), cage exclusion experiments (whelk exclusions), cage inclusion-exclusion experiments (Leptasterias inclusion, Leptasterias exclusion). Experiments will be replicated with appropriate controls, and done at multiple sites on the central Oregon coast that vary naturally in population abundances, rates of prey and predator recruitment, and oceanographic conditions. Results obtained under this unprecedented set of circumstances will deepen and expand our empirical understanding of the dynamics of an iconic ecosystem, and will help parameterize community models.

Additional Project Information: Sea Star Wasting Map

NSF abstract:

In recent decades, ocean ecosystems, long thought to be immune to change, have undergone disruptions to their structure, diversity, and geographic range, yet the actual underlying reasons for such changes in oceanic biota are often unclear. Coastal intertidal zones (i.e., the shore between high and low tides) have long served as important ecological model systems because of advantages in accessibility and ease of observation, occupancy by easily studied and manipulated organisms of relatively short lifespans, and exposure to often severe environmental conditions. This research will address the stability of a well-known rocky shore system along the Oregon and California coasts. Prior long-term research indicates that, although casual observation suggests these systems are stable, in fact, they may be on the cusp of shifting into another state, losing iconic organisms like mussels and sea stars, and becoming dominated by seaweeds. These changes might be comparable to losing trees and large predators from terrestrial systems. This study would result in the training of undergraduates and graduate students, including individuals from under-represented groups. Additionally, this study would include outreach to the general public.

The researchers will focus particularly on impacts of increasing and more variable warming on community recovery. For example, climate oscillations (e.g., El Niño), coastal upwelling, and particularly temperature have all changed in recent decades in ways leading to increased stress on intertidal biota. In apparent response, coastal ecosystems evidently have become less productive, organismal performance (growth, reproduction) has declined, and key dynamical processes (species interactions) have weakened. The new research will pursue these strong hints of an impending “tipping point” by (1) continuing the projects that led to the insights of increasing instability, (2) adding new projects that will pinpoint ecological changes, and (3) expanding the region of work to include locations in California. Research will assess whether or not sea stars recover from wasting disease, experimentally test if species interactions are indeed weakening, quantify the annual inputs of new prey and changes in abundance, diversity, stability, and resilience of intertidal communities, and document changes in the physical environment. Using field observations and experiments, the research will provide insight into impacts of environmental change, particularly warming, on the future of coastal ecosystems, and more generally, into possible future states of Earth’s ecosystems. Using these data, we will test the hypothesis that direct and indirect effects of climate change are driving, or may drive these systems into new, alternative states.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

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.

Long Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB)

Supports research for a period of 10 years or longer to generate an extended time series of data with a focus on evolutionary biology, ecology and ecosystem science.

Synopsis
The Long Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) Program supports the generation of extended time series of data to address important questions in evolutionary biology, ecology, and ecosystem science. Research areas include, but are not limited to, the effects of natural selection or other evolutionary processes on populations, communities, or ecosystems; the effects of interspecific interactions that vary over time and space; population or community dynamics for organisms that have extended life spans and long turnover times; feedbacks between ecological and evolutionary processes; pools of materials such as nutrients in soils that turn over at intermediate to longer time scales; and external forcing functions such as climatic cycles that operate over long return intervals.