Fig. 1 . Location of rocky intertidal sampling sites. GN = GianLs Neck, DP = Bay Point, MP = Millstone Point, FE = Fox 

 Island-Exposed, rS = Fox Island-Sheltered, TT = Twotree Island, WP = White Point, SE = Seaside Exposed, 

 SS = Seaside Sheltered. 



term freezing. Voucher specimens were preserved 

 using various methods, depending on the material: 

 in 4% formalin/seawater, as dried herbarium 

 mounts, or on microscope slides. 



Undisturbed Transects 



At each qualitative collection station except TT 

 (because of insufficient exposed bedrock), five 

 permanent transects were established perpendicu- 

 lar to the water-line, one-half meter wide and 

 extending from Mean High Water to Mean Low 

 Water levels. Each transect, composed of 0.5 m 

 X 0.5 m quadrats, was non-destructively sampled 

 six times per year, in odd numbered months (or 

 a total of ten times in the Unit 3 operational 

 period to date). The percentage of substratum 

 cover of all organisms and remaining free space 

 in each quadrat was subjectively determined and 

 recorded. Understory organisms, or species that 



were partially or totally obscured by the canopy 

 layer, were assigned a percentage that reflected 

 their true abundance. 



Recolonization Studies 

 Transects 



Rates and patterns of recolonization following 

 substratum denudation were determined in 

 recolonization transect experiments at four sta- 

 tions: FE, PS, WP, GN. Sample design included 

 two pairs of stations with similar degrees of ex- 

 posure: exposed at FE and WP, and sheltered at 

 GN and FS. The Fox Island stations, because 

 of their proximity to the MNPS discharge, were 

 considered potentially impacted, while WP and 

 GN were identified as reference stations. Three 

 vertical transects were established at each station; 

 each transect was scraped free of attached algae 

 and invertebrates and burned with a liquid petro- 



12 



