Monday, August 6, 2007
Exhibit Halls 1 and 2, San Jose McEnery Convention Center
In December 2005 a new offshore artificial reef was established at “Bird Island” in Santa Barbara County, CA. The reef was created from the abandonment of a 1930’s era oil production pier remnant. A medium relief subtidal reef was created from large concrete pilings and covered with quarry rock over the abandoned oil production site. The reef lies approximately 900 feet offshore of the coastline in roughly 35 feet of water. The local shoreline and subtidal habitat is predominantly made up of sandy shores interspersed with natural rocky reefs. The subtidal rocky reefs and the sandy substrates support algal forests dominated by the giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera). The reef was designed to provide complex habitat that would support the establishment of communities of algae, invertebrates and fishes that would function similarly to the surrounding natural reef areas. The purpose of this ongoing study is to provide quantitative data on the successional changes in the establishment of the reef communities. The general study design is a paired-design time series in which data from benthic quadrats, band transects, and photo-transects are used to compare the Bird Island Reef communities to a nearby natural kelp reef. Data was collected during three periods throughout 2006. Initial data suggest that fish and invertebrate communities have become well established at the reef within the first year.
