CBRISC Goals

To quantify temporal changes in the composition of Southern California rocky intertidal over the past one hundred years.

To understand the causes of these changes, including their relationship to climate change and human-mediated disturbance.

These goals are to be achieved by the following actions:

1. Compilation of a database of occurrences of intertidal species throughout the five most southern coastal counties of California. Historical occurrences are inferred from museum collections, private collections, and published literature (see methods).
   
   
2. Execution of extensive biotic surveys at a subset of localities so that the historical patterns of species occurences may be compared to present day conditions (see methods).
   
   
3. Develop and maintain this internet site, where other researchers will be able to search our compiled database and eventually add to it.
   
   

Uses and application of these data

This project will provide quantitative data on the extent of local extinctions in rocky shore populations along the southern California coast. Our database provides information that could be used for conservation decisions and future monitoring of these habitats.