Benthic Surveys in Vatia, American Samoa: benthic images collected during belt transect surveys from 2015-11-02 to 2015-11-12 (NCEI Accession 0146680)

Jurisdictional managers have expressed concerns that nutrients from the village of Vatia, Tutuila, American Samoa, are having an adverse effect on the coral reef ecosystem in Vatia Bay. 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 data described here were collected via belt transect surveys of coral demography (adult and juvenile corals) by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) according to protocols established by the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). In 2015 data were collected at 18 stratified randomly selected sites in Vatia Bay. These data include photoquadrat benthic images.