Quantifying variability in nutrient transport is important for understanding the maintenance of coastal ecosystems. Understanding of the processes that control variability in nutrient transport off of Southern California is complicated by the very narrow continental shelf (2-5 km) in this region, which creates a more direct connection between shallow reefs and deeper oceanic waters. The Santa Barbara Channel (SBC) is one of these environments. The motivation for this study is to gain an understanding of how environmental gradients across the continental shelf of the SBC give rise to different phytoplankton community types and resource responses, and to observe how seasonal changes in nutrient regimes create changes in the phytoplankton community. Monthly samples were taken for 16 months (January 2008 – April 2009) along a transect that begins at the edge of the Mohawk kelp forest (~10 m depth) and extends into the channel (~75m depth). Five stations were monitored for nutrients, particulate organic matter, chlorophyll, primary production (via 14C-uptake), dissolved organic matter release (via 14C-labeling) pigments (via high performance liquid chromatography) as well as taxonomic identification and enumeration of phytoplankton.