Alaska Shore Station Database

The Alaska Shore Station Database is a compilation of data collected since 2002 during low tide surveys from hundreds of intertidal sites throughout the coastal waters of Alaska. Shore station survey data include observed species and their assemblages, geomorphic features such as sediment substrates and forms, beach length, slope and specific elevation profiles, and station photo documentation.

The Alaska Shore Station provides detail to the attributes described in the Alaska ShoreZone coastal habitat mapping website.  The Alaska ShoreZone and Shore Station data are not meant to be compared, as the two products utilize different scales and levels of detection. The shore station data provide more insight into the regional differences among habitats by adding descriptive detail to the definitions of shoreline habitats that were classified from the aerial surveys.

Due to the expense of accessing many of Alaska’s remote coastal areas, shore station data were often collected opportunistically and, thus, the sites were not selected in a statistically random manner. However, every attempt was made to choose sites that encompassed the range of observed coastal habitats and wave exposures.

The Shore Station Database Provides:

• Biophysical data such as bioband locations, sediment textures, species compositions, geomorphic features, across-shore profiles, and photo documentation at sites.
• Detailed invertebrate and algal species lists that can be assembled for specific sites or at larger geographic scales.
• Species data reported on a categorical, semi-quantitative scale that can be used to illustrate potential differences in algal and invertebrate communities among different habitats and geographic areas.
• Observations that were recorded according to a standard protocol and that are specifically georeferenced within the hierarchical system of the ShoreZone mapping program.
• Information that is useful for describing ShoreZone classifications by way of illustrating different species assemblages found within ‘biobands’ reported from different habitats and regions.
• Data from hundreds of stations visited throughout the Gulf of Alaska, including Southeast, Prince William Sound, the outer Kenai Peninsula, the Kodiak Island archipelago, Cook Inlet, and the Katmai National Park coast.

Database

• Shore Station Database
• Metadata

Related Databases

• Alaska ShoreZone
• Alaska Nearshore Fish Atlas
• Seaweeds of Alaska (broken link)

Partnerships and Acknowledgments

Funding for developing this tool to supplement the Alaska ShoreZone project was provided by the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council.

Contacts

Mandy Lindeberg
Auke Bay Laboratories
Mandy.Lindeberg@noaa.gov
(907) 789-6616

Mary Morris
Archipelago Marine Research
marym@archipelago.ca
(250) 383-4535

Sue Saupe
Cook Inlet Regional Citizens
Advisory Council
Saupe@circac.org
(907) 278-7222