Benthic Surveys in Vatia, American Samoa since 2015: benthic images collected during belt transect surveys in 2015 and 2020
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.
Photoquadrat benthic images were collected in 2015 and 2020 only, via belt transect surveys of coral demography according to protocols established by NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) in 2015.
In 2015, the survey implemented a two-stage stratified random sampling (StRS) design to assess the Vatia benthic coral reef community, and a one-stage StRS design in 2020. The survey domain encompassed the majority of the mapped area of reef and hard bottom habitats in the 0â30 m depth range. The stratification scheme included cardinal position (i.e., north and south) and depth (i.e., shallow: >0â6 m and mid-depth: >6â18 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.
Complete Metadata
| @type | dcat:Dataset |
|---|---|
| accessLevel | non-public |
| contactPoint |
{
"fn": "Vargas-Angel, Bernardo",
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"hasEmail": "mailto:bernardo.vargasangel@noaa.gov"
}
|
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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. Photoquadrat benthic images were collected in 2015 and 2020 only, via belt transect surveys of coral demography according to protocols established by NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) in 2015. In 2015, the survey implemented a two-stage stratified random sampling (StRS) design to assess the Vatia benthic coral reef community, and a one-stage StRS design in 2020. The survey domain encompassed the majority of the mapped area of reef and hard bottom habitats in the 0â30 m depth range. The stratification scheme included cardinal position (i.e., north and south) and depth (i.e., shallow: >0â6 m and mid-depth: >6â18 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. |
| distribution |
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| identifier | gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:31196 |
| issued | 2022-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00 |
| keyword |
[
"31090",
"31259",
"Eutrophication Impacts on Coral Ecosystem Health in Vatia",
"Status and trends assessment for LBSP impacts on reef communities in Faga'alu Bay and Vatia Bay",
"Visual Images > Habitats",
"EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals",
"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 > In Situ Biological",
"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",
"PHOTOQUADRAT IMAGES",
"imagery",
"Coral Reef Conservation Program",
"US DOC; NOAA; NMFS; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center; Ecosystem Sciences Division; Coral Reef Ecosystem Program",
"COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > Tutuila Island > Vatia Bay (14S170W0028)",
"OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Tutuila Island > Vatia Bay (14S170W0028)",
"South Pacific Ocean",
"CRED",
"CREP",
"Coral Reef Ecosystem Division",
"Coral Reef Ecosystem Program",
"PIFSC",
"Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center",
"Vatia",
"DOC/NOAA/NMFS/PIFSC > Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
"Benthic Missions"
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| landingPage | https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/31196 |
| language |
[]
|
| license | https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ |
| modified | 2022-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00 |
| publisher |
{
"name": "Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center",
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|
| references |
[
"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/31196.pdf"
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|
| rights | otherRestrictions, unclassified |
| spatial | -170.66666666667,-14.25138888889,-170.67555555556,-14.24305555556 |
| temporal | 2015-11-02T00:00:00+00:00/2015-11-12T00:00:00+00:00 |
| title | Benthic Surveys in Vatia, American Samoa since 2015: benthic images collected during belt transect surveys in 2015 and 2020 |
