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Benthic Surveys in Vatia, American Samoa: comprehensive assessment of coral demography (adult and juvenile corals) from belt transect surveys from 2020-01-23 to 2020-01-29 (NCEI Accession 0240417)

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: January 29, 2026 | Last Modified: 2021-09-02T00:00:00.000+00:00
Jurisdictional managers have expressed concerns that nutrients from the village of Vatia, Tutuila, American Samoa, are having an adverse effect on the adjacent coral reef ecosystem. Excess nutrient loads promote increases in algal growth that can have deleterious effects on corals, such as benthic algae outcompeting and overgrowing corals. Nitrogen and phosphorus can also directly impact corals by lowering fertilization success, and reducing both photosynthesis and calcification rates. Land-based contributions of nutrients come from a variety of sources; in Vatia the most likely sources are poor wastewater management from piggeries and septic systems. NOAA scientists conducted benthic surveys to establish a baseline against which to compare changes in the algal and coral assemblages in response to land-based sources of pollution, including nutrient fluxes. The data described here result from benthic coral demographic surveys within belt transects of specified length and width for two life stages (juveniles and adults) in Vatia Bay American Samoa in 2020. The data provide information on adult coral colony counts, morphology, size, partial mortality (old and recent dead), presence and causation of disease and other compromised health conditions, including bleaching. Juvenile colony surveys include morphology and size. Taxonomic identification of adult colonies is to the species level and genus level for juveniles. In 2020, the survey implemented was a one-stage stratified random sampling (StRS) design to assess the Vatia coral reef community. The survey domain encompassed the majority of the mapped area of reef and hard bottom habitats in the 0–30 m depth range. The stratification scheme included cardinal position (i.e., north and south) and depth (i.e., shallow: >0–6 m and mid-depth: >6–18 m). Sampling effort allocation was determined based on strata area and sites randomly located within strata. The StRS design effectively reduces estimate variance through stratification using environmental covariates and by sampling more sites rather than more transects per site. Therefore, site-to-site comparisons should proceed with caution.

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0240417 biological data CORAL CORAL - BLEACHING CORAL - CENSUS CORAL - COLONY SIZE CORAL - SPECIES IDENTIFICATION HABITAT - BENTHIC swimmer/diver visual observation biological in situ survey - biological survey - coral reef survey - swimmer/diver NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Ecosystem Sciences Division Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) CORAL REEF STUDIES South Pacific Ocean oceanography DOC/NOAA/NMFS > National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce DOC/NOAA/NMFS/PIFSC/ESD > Ecosystem Sciences Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce 31259 Status and trends assessment for LBSP impacts on reef communities in Faga'alu Bay and Vatia Bay Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) Numeric Data Sets > Biology EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Coral Diseases EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Coral Diseases > Bleaching EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Coral Mortality EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Damage Assessment > Pollution EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Baseline studies EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Benthos Analysis > Transect Monitoring > Belt Transect EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Coral Colony Size and Condition EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > In Situ Biological EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Rapid Assessment Studies EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology > Benthic biology EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Coral EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Coral Communities EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > BENTHIC EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > REEF > CORAL REEF EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > COASTAL PROCESSES > CORAL REEFS > CORAL BLEACHING EARTH SCIENCE > SOLID EARTH > GEOMORPHIC LANDFORMS/PROCESSES > COASTAL LANDFORMS > CORAL REEFS COLONY - RECENT MORTALITY CAUSE CORAL - BLEACHING SEVERITY CORAL - CONDITION EXTENT CORAL - HEALTH CONDITION CORAL - MORPHOLOGY CORAL - MORTALITY VISUAL OBSERVATIONS > VISUAL OBSERVATIONS survey - swimmer/diver Shore based COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > Tutuila Island > Vatia Bay (14S170W0028) OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Tutuila Island > Vatia Bay (14S170W0028) OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN Vatia Bay, Tutuila, American Samoa 9619UN

Complete Metadata
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description Jurisdictional managers have expressed concerns that nutrients from the village of Vatia, Tutuila, American Samoa, are having an adverse effect on the adjacent coral reef ecosystem. Excess nutrient loads promote increases in algal growth that can have deleterious effects on corals, such as benthic algae outcompeting and overgrowing corals. Nitrogen and phosphorus can also directly impact corals by lowering fertilization success, and reducing both photosynthesis and calcification rates. Land-based contributions of nutrients come from a variety of sources; in Vatia the most likely sources are poor wastewater management from piggeries and septic systems. NOAA scientists conducted benthic surveys to establish a baseline against which to compare changes in the algal and coral assemblages in response to land-based sources of pollution, including nutrient fluxes. The data described here result from benthic coral demographic surveys within belt transects of specified length and width for two life stages (juveniles and adults) in Vatia Bay American Samoa in 2020. The data provide information on adult coral colony counts, morphology, size, partial mortality (old and recent dead), presence and causation of disease and other compromised health conditions, including bleaching. Juvenile colony surveys include morphology and size. Taxonomic identification of adult colonies is to the species level and genus level for juveniles. In 2020, the survey implemented was a one-stage stratified random sampling (StRS) design to assess the Vatia coral reef community. The survey domain encompassed the majority of the mapped area of reef and hard bottom habitats in the 0–30 m depth range. The stratification scheme included cardinal position (i.e., north and south) and depth (i.e., shallow: >0–6 m and mid-depth: >6–18 m). Sampling effort allocation was determined based on strata area and sites randomly located within strata. The StRS design effectively reduces estimate variance through stratification using environmental covariates and by sampling more sites rather than more transects per site. Therefore, site-to-site comparisons should proceed with caution.
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identifier gov.noaa.nodc:0240417
issued 2021-08-20T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
                                            [
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  "biological data",
  "CORAL",
  "CORAL - BLEACHING",
  "CORAL - CENSUS",
  "CORAL - COLONY SIZE",
  "CORAL - SPECIES IDENTIFICATION",
  "HABITAT - BENTHIC",
  "swimmer/diver",
  "visual observation",
  "biological",
  "in situ",
  "survey - biological",
  "survey - coral reef",
  "survey - swimmer/diver",
  "NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center",
  "NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Ecosystem Sciences Division",
  "Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP)",
  "CORAL REEF STUDIES",
  "South Pacific Ocean",
  "oceanography",
  "DOC/NOAA/NMFS > National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "DOC/NOAA/NMFS/PIFSC/ESD > Ecosystem Sciences Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "31259",
  "Status and trends assessment for LBSP impacts on reef communities in Faga'alu Bay and Vatia Bay",
  "Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP)",
  "Numeric Data Sets > Biology",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Coral Diseases",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Coral Diseases > Bleaching",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Coral Mortality",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Damage Assessment > Pollution",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Baseline studies",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Benthos Analysis > Transect Monitoring > Belt Transect",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Coral Colony Size and Condition",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > In Situ Biological",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Rapid Assessment Studies",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology > Benthic biology",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Coral",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Coral Communities",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > BENTHIC",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > REEF > CORAL REEF",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > COASTAL PROCESSES > CORAL REEFS > CORAL BLEACHING",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > SOLID EARTH > GEOMORPHIC LANDFORMS/PROCESSES > COASTAL LANDFORMS > CORAL REEFS",
  "COLONY - RECENT MORTALITY CAUSE",
  "CORAL - BLEACHING SEVERITY",
  "CORAL - CONDITION EXTENT",
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  "CORAL - MORPHOLOGY",
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  "VISUAL OBSERVATIONS > VISUAL OBSERVATIONS",
  "survey - swimmer/diver",
  "Shore based",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > Tutuila Island > Vatia Bay (14S170W0028)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Tutuila Island > Vatia Bay (14S170W0028)",
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  "Vatia Bay, Tutuila, American Samoa",
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language 
                                            []
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2021-09-02T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
                                            {
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  "@type": "org:Organization"
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references 
                                            [
  "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/30771",
  "https://doi.org/10.7289/v5/sp-pifsc-18-002",
  "https://doi.org/10.25923/j8cp-x570",
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rights otherRestrictions
spatial -170.66796,-14.24985,-170.67441,-14.24367
temporal 2020-01-23T00:00:00+00:00/2020-01-29T00:00:00+00:00
title Benthic Surveys in Vatia, American Samoa: comprehensive assessment of coral demography (adult and juvenile corals) from belt transect surveys from 2020-01-23 to 2020-01-29 (NCEI Accession 0240417)

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