SONGS Mitigation Monitoring: Experimental Reef Survey - Benthic Algae and Invertebrate Abundance

These data describe annual estimates of the density of benthic macroalgae and macroinvertebrates at an artificial reef (Wheeler North Reef in Orange County, CA) and two natural reference reefs (San Mateo Kelp in Orange County, CA and Barn Kelp in San Diego County, CA).
Data were collected from 2000 to 2004 as part of the experimental phase of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) kelp reef mitigation program.
In the summer of each year, divers identified and counted species of benthic macroalgae and macroinvertebrates in quadrats of varying size that were uniformly distributed along fixed transects at each reef.