Protocols used for this survey were modeled after LiMPETS [1] and are outlined below. The survey takes the following measurements to establish baseline populations of A. sola.

1. Topography of study sites. The topography is measured with an apparatus that uses a water column in a tube that is attached to a probe. The height of the water in the probe indicates the height of the ground. The topography of the sites is measured by placing transects every three meters in the plot and measuring the height of the ground every three meters along the transect. If an abnormality such as a crack or a boulder appears between the 3-meter markings along the transect, measurements are taken every meter for three or four meters.
2. Abundance and distribution of Anthopleura sola. Within the study plot, randomized [2] transects are laid perpendicular to the ocean. Quadrats measuring one square meter are placed every meter along the transect, and the number of anemones known to be A. sola in each quadrat are counted. To avoid overlap, if a transect location is very close (within 0.5 m) to an area that has already been surveyed, it is discarded, and a new randomized location is used instead.
3. Size distributions of A. sola. In each quadrat, the sizes of several A. sola are measured. If five or fewer A. sola are present in the quadrat, all A. sola are measured. For larger numbers of A. sola in a quadrat, four or five individuals are selected at random and measured. Measurements are taken along the widest part of the anemone to the nearest centimeter.

A detailed temperature profile is also created by recording the following measurements:

1. Temperatures in the intertidal. At each survey location, an iButton™ Thermochron temperature data logger [3] is placed in the approximate center of the plot to record intertidal temperatures at 1-hour intervals. The data logger is coated with epoxy to make it waterproof and glued to a rock exposed at low tide. Temperature data is collected from the data loggers every four weeks.
2. Atmospheric and ocean temperatures. Atmospheric and ocean temperatures are obtained from data collected by offshore buoys operated by NOAA [4] near the study sites.
3. Tide times and epochs. High and low tide times and epochs are obtained from tide tables [5].

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References

1. Long-Term Monitoring Project and Experiential Training for Students (2004).
2. Selby, Samuel M. Standard Mathematical Tables, Twenty-Third Ed. Cleveland: CRC Press, Inc., 1975, 629-632.
3. Maxim Semiconductor: Thermochron Temperature Data Logger
4. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. National Buoy Data Center: Monterey Bay to San Francisco Bay
5. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Water Level Tidal Predictions