The Santa Barbara Channel (SBC) is a transition zone characterized by high species and habitat diversity and strong environmental gradients within a relatively small area where cold- and warm-water species found from Baja to the Bering Sea coexist. SBC also has a high density of monitoring and research programs, including the Santa Barbara Coastal LTER. These characteristics make SBC an ideal setting for our demonstration Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (BON) project that integrates biological levels from genes to habitats and links biodiversity observations to environmental forcing and biogeography. We will build a comprehensive demonstration system that includes representation of all levels of biotic diversity, develops key new tools to expand the scales of present observation, and produces a data management network to integrate new and existing data sources. Our system will be scalable to expand into a full regional Marine BON, and the methods and decision support tools we develop will be transferable to other regions. Products and methods developed by SBC BON will enhance existing long-term research including SBC LTER.