Quantitative records of habitat-forming seaweeds found in Japanese temperate and subtropical zones (fucoids and kelps)

This data paper introduces a data set of quantitative records, including biomass (wet and dry weight), cover, shoot density and shoot length, of habitat-forming seaweeds (temperate kelps and fucoids) collected at 400 sites (2,115 sampling points) of a warm-to-cold temperate zone of the Japanese coast from 1957 to 2013. The data set includes 8,885 occurrence records of 58 species, extracted from 64 literature sources, most of which were written in local language. The data set compiled the quantitative records of seaweeds at each study site, each year and each month; the geographical location; the vertical distribution and the scientific names. Furthermore, one supporting data set was added that included the name of the corresponding literature list. The data set was formatted as Darwin Core and its extension, “Sample-based Data.” Scientific names were updated to ones that are currently accepted based on Algaebase (http://www.algaebase.org). A comprehensive distribution (presence and absence) data set of Japanese habitat-forming seaweeds has been published (Kumagai et al., 2016, Ecological Research 31:759), which covers geographic distribution and the associated long-term changes in seaweeds found in Japanese temperate and subtropical zones. Here, this data set focuses more on changes in seaweed quantity according to season and depth. This rich data set can be used to analyze the seasonal, long-term changes and spatial differences in the biomass and community structure of habitat-forming seaweeds along the Japanese coast. These datasets are published under a Creative Commons attribution license CC-BY NC 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). The complete data set for this abstract published in the Data Paper section of the journal is available in electronic format in MetaCat in JaLTER at http://db.cger.nies.go.jp/JaLTER/metacat/metacat/ERDP-2020-07.1/jalter-en.