Biological surveys of Santa Monica Bay artificial reef and Topanga artificial reef

Bedford, Dennis and Kashiwada, Jerry and Walls, Greg (1996) Biological surveys of Santa Monica Bay artificial reef and Topanga artificial reef. Long Beach, CA, California Department of Fish and Game Marine Resources Division, (Marine Resources Division Administrative Report, 96-3)

Preview

PDF - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader Download (3793Kb) | Preview

Abstract

This report details the development of the biological communities on 2 artificial reefs off southern California (Figure 1). Santa Monica Bay Artificial Reef(SMBAR) and Topanga Artificial Reef(TAR) were both constructed in 1987 with 20,000 and 10,000 tons of quarry rock respectively. SMBAR was constructed in the manner of replication reefs which were designed by researchers to study the effects of environmental and structural variables on reef productivity in situ and TAR was built to promote kelp habitat. SMBAR is composed of 24 module pairs of varying height and rock size arranged along three depth strata while TAR was built in 3 piles along one depth strata (Table 1, Figure 2 & Figure 3). SMBAR is located at 34°00'47''N; 118°32'33" W approximately 5 nautical miles from the Marina del Rey entrance along a course of 290° magnetic. TAR is located at 34°01'38.10" N; 118°31'54.80"W; approximately 5.25 nautical miles from the Marina del Rey entrance along a course of 302° magnetic. The modules of SMBAR cover 3.58 acres of the 256 acres allotted in the permit. Each module has a footprint of about 0.07 acres. The modules of TAR cover 2 acres of 13 acres allotted in the permit. Each module has a footprint of about 0.70 acres. During the late fall of 1995 both reefs were surveyed by Department divers to assess how closely their biological communities had progressed towards a stable "equilibrium" community. Due to the relatively young age of the reefs and the rapid successional change which occurs in the associated biotic communities of new reefs (Carlisle et al. 1964; Turneretal. 1969; Carteretal. 1985; Matthews 1985; Solonsky 1985; Ambrose and Swarbrick 1989; Anderson et al. 1989; Hueckel and Buckley 1989; and WIlson et al. 1990), only qualitative surveys were conducted. (17pp.)

Actions (login required)