Benthic Surveys in Vatia, American Samoa: benthic cover derived from analysis of benthic images collected during belt transect surveys of coral demography in 2015 and 2020

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 nutrient fluxes. The benthic cover data described here were generated from the quantitative analysis of photoquadrat benthic images using image analysis software, whereby random points are projected on each image and the benthic elements falling directly underneath each point are identified. The images were collected at 18 and 24 stratified randomly selected sites in 2015 and 2020 respectively, during belt transect surveys of coral demography by the NOAA Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD; former Coral Reef Ecosystem Program CREP). Five of the 18 sites surveyed in 2015 were resurveyed periodically in 2016 (January, March, June, September, and December) to assess any short-term temporal changes in the benthic composition. The benthic cover data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive. The benthic images and coral demography data are described and archived separately.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
0 Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center homepage https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov
33 A summary of the monitoring activities conducted in Vatia Bay by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program. ftp://ftp.library.noaa.gov/noaa_documents.lib/NMFS/PIFSC/PIFSC_special_publication/SP-16-001.pdf
0 CoralNet home page. The online tool used to analyze the benthic images for benthic cover. http://coralnet.ucsd.edu/
0 NCCOS Project Details: Nutrient Dynamics and Changes to Benthic Communities in Vatia, American Samoa https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/projects/detail?key=245
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/31611.pdf
0 Benthic cover data derived from analysis of benthic images collected during belt transect surveys conducted by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) in Vatia, Tutuila, American Samoa in 2015. http://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0169726
0 The information provided on this page seeks to define how the GCMD Keywords are structured, used and accessed. It also provides information on how users can participate in the further development of the keywords. https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/find-data/idn/gcmd-keywords
0 Benthic cover data derived from benthic image analysis with CoralNet. Imagery was collected during belt transect surveys conducted by the NOAA Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) in Vatia, Tutuila, American Samoa in 2020. http://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0264809
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/31611

Tags

  • benthic missions
  • crep
  • coral cover
  • doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc
  • united states of america
  • reef monitoring and assessment
  • aquatic habitat
  • corals
  • benthic habitat
  • coral reef ecosystem division
  • benthic
  • pifsc
  • biosphere
  • survey - coral reef
  • photographic analysis
  • oceans
  • algae
  • coral reef conservation program
  • reef and/or bottom regime - percent cover
  • american samoa
  • hard coral cover
  • 31259
  • survey - biological
  • noaa
  • numeric data sets
  • algal cover
  • nmfs
  • baseline studies
  • status and trends assessment for lbsp impacts on reef communities in faga'alu bay and vatia bay
  • us doc
  • pacific islands fisheries science center
  • u.s. department of commerce
  • earth science
  • benthic biology
  • national marine fisheries service
  • vegetation
  • eutrophication impacts on coral ecosystem health in vatia
  • fleshy macroalgae
  • crustose coralline algae
  • cred
  • encrusting macroalgae
  • benthos analysis
  • transect monitoring
  • reef habitat
  • coral reef ecology
  • ocean basin
  • ecosystem sciences division
  • vatia bay (14s170w0028)
  • esd
  • coastal processes
  • octocoral cover
  • survey - photographs
  • tutuila island
  • zoology
  • coral reefs
  • survey - diver
  • 31090
  • pacific ocean
  • country/territory
  • belt transect
  • turf algae
  • south pacific ocean
  • coral reef studies
  • coral reef ecosystem program

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