To collect data on the species diversity and vegetation structure along the transects, a 1m x 1m quadrat was placed at the center and at each end of the transect. Quadrats were always adjacent to the transect on the eastern side for consistency and to avoid trampling plants in the plots. The GPS coordinates and elevation of the center point of each quadrat were recoded using a Trimble R12i GNSS receiver rented from New York Precision Equipment (https://nyprecision.com/). In each quadrat, the identity and percent cover of each species rooted in the plot were identified using NCVS cover classes (95%). The cover of bare ground, wrack, live oysters, and live mussels was also collected using the same cover classes. Some quadrats were dropped if they fell in open water or were inaccessible.