Coral reef ecosystem marine protected area monitoring in Fagamalo, American Samoa: benthic percent cover derived from analysis of benthic images collected during belt transect surveys of coral demography in 2015

Description

In 2010 the village of Fagamalo, Tutuila, American Samoa, designated a no-take Marine Protected Area that sees the protection of 2.25 square kilometers of ocean. Because little is known regarding the status of living marine communities in the area, and at the request of the American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources, NOAA scientists conducted surveys to assess the status of the benthic communities and establish a baseline against which to compare temporal change. 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 randomly selected stratified sites in Fagamalo in 2015 during belt transect surveys of coral demography by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP). 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
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/31621.pdf
0 Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center homepage https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov
0 CoralNet home page. The online tool used to analyze the benthic images for benthic cover. https://coralnet.ucsd.edu/
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 Fagamalo, Tutuila, American Samoa in 2015. https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0169724
33 Summary Report of Baseline Surveys for Benthic and Fish Communities in the Fagamalo No-Take Marine Protected Area, American Samoa, prepared by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) and submitted to the American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR). https://data.nodc.noaa.gov/coris/library/NOAA/CRCP/NMFS/PIFSC/Projects/1083/Fagamalo_summary_CREP.pdf
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/31621
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2024. GCMD Keywords, Version 19. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
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 Fagamalo, Tutuila, American Samoa in 2015. https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0169724
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/31621
0 Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center homepage https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov
0 CoralNet home page. The online tool used to analyze the benthic images for benthic cover. https://coralnet.ucsd.edu/
33 Summary Report of Baseline Surveys for Benthic and Fish Communities in the Fagamalo No-Take Marine Protected Area, American Samoa, prepared by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) and submitted to the American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR). https://data.nodc.noaa.gov/coris/library/NOAA/CRCP/NMFS/PIFSC/Projects/1083/Fagamalo_summary_CREP.pdf
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 22. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/31621.pdf

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
  • photographic analysis
  • oceans
  • algae
  • coral reef conservation program
  • reef and/or bottom regime - percent cover
  • 1083
  • american samoa
  • hard coral cover
  • noaa
  • numeric data sets
  • algal cover
  • nmfs
  • baseline studies
  • us doc
  • coral reef ecosystem monitoring training and capacity building to support improved resource manageme
  • pacific islands fisheries science center
  • u.s. department of commerce
  • earth science
  • benthic biology
  • national marine fisheries service
  • vegetation
  • fleshy macroalgae
  • crustose coralline algae
  • cred
  • encrusting macroalgae
  • benthos analysis
  • fagamalo (14s170w0047)
  • transect monitoring
  • reef habitat
  • coral reef ecology
  • ocean basin
  • ecosystem sciences division
  • coastal processes
  • octocoral cover
  • tutuila island
  • zoology
  • coral reefs
  • pacific ocean
  • country/territory
  • belt transect
  • turf algae
  • south pacific ocean
  • coral reef studies
  • coral reef ecosystem program

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