Characterization of Benthic Condition and Organisms on the Oregon South Coast: A Rapid Evaluation of Habitat Characteristics and Benthic Organisms at the Proposed Reedsport Wave Park

Abstract

This project was a single assessment of the benthic habitat characteristics and organisms near the future Ocean Power Technologies Demonstration facility near Reedsport, OR, and a reference location. The goal of this project was to assess sediment characteristics, infaunal invertebrates, epifaunal invertebrates, and fish at the future installation site, inshore of the target site, and at a reference site. Specifically, CTD casts, box cores, and beam trawl collections were conducted at the sited in summer 2011. In summary, all assemblages sampled had distributions strongly driven by depth. Other factors contributing to the variability among sampling stations were potentially due to differences in temperature and dissolved oxygen, which co-vary with depth. In the following document we report in detail on the spatial variability of the habitat features and biological assemblages. Finally, we make recommendations for plans for future monitoring at these or similar sites.