Southern California coastal waters contain data from 426 fisheries-independent benthic trawls conducted by the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP). The dataset originally included 288 invertebrate species, but analysis focused on 41 species present in at least 5% of 401 trawls, collected at depths from 2 to 215 meters during June-August. Site clusters were calculated using the Bray-Curtis dissimilarity coefficient.
Use Cases
- Analyze benthic community structure based on species assemblage data from 401 trawls.
- Model species distribution and abundance patterns across a 2-215 meter depth gradient.
- Identify invertebrate site clusters using Bray-Curtis dissimilarity and clustering methods.
- Study the impact of removing rare species (present in <5% of trawls) on assemblage analysis.
Strengths
- Includes data from 426 distinct benthic trawl samples.
- Analyzes 41 invertebrate species after filtering for presence in at least 5% of trawls.
- Specifies a clear depth range (2-215 meters) and seasonal collection period (June-August).
- Cites specific methodological references (Allen et al. 1997, 2003; Romesburg 1991).
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
Provenance
- Source
- Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP), hosted by NOAA_NCEI on nasa_earthdata.
- Collection Method
- Data gathered from benthic trawls using a 7.6-m head-rope semi-balloon otter trawl with 1.25 cm codend mesh, towed for 5-10 minutes per station.
- Time Range
- Data collected during the months of June-August (specific years not provided).
- Geography
- Southern California coastal waters.