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OAS accession Detail for 0146682
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Title: Benthic Surveys in Fagaʻalu, American Samoa: benthic images collected during belt transect surveys in 2012 and 2015 (NCEI Accession 0146682)
Abstract: The data described herein are part of a NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) funded project aimed at establishing baseline data for coral demographics and benthic cover and composition via Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) surveys conducted by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) at Fagaʻalu Bay, Tutuila, American Samoa between 2012 and 2015. Photoquadrat benthic images were collected in 2012 and 2015 only, via belt transect surveys of coral demography according to protocols established by CREP in 2012 and by the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) in 2015.
Date received: 20160406
Start date: 20120328
End date: 20151111
Seanames:
West boundary: -170.681
East boundary: -170.673
North boundary: -14.287
South boundary: -14.2952
Observation types:
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Datatypes:
Submitter: Kanemura, Troy
Submitting institution: US DOC; NOAA; NMFS; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center; Ecosystem Sciences Division; Coral Reef Ecosystem Program
Collecting institutions:
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Number of observations:
Supplementary information: The field data described herein are part of the CRCP-funded project aimed at establishing baseline Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) surveys for coral reef benthic cover and composition at Faga'alu Bay, Tutuila, American Samoa.
In August 2012 Faga'alu watershed in American Samoa was adopted by the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force Watershed Partnership Initiative as a priority site, with the objective to reduce inputs of land-based sources of pollution to nearby coastal areas and coral reefs within the watershed. As a result, the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) invested in 1) the collection of baseline data for corals in Faga'alu Bay (REA surveys conducted by NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program [CREP]), and 2) the monitoring of sediment loads in Faga'alu Stream to document pre- and post-mitigation levels of sedimentation in the stream and the receiving waters below.
Led by the NOAA Office for Coastal Management, the overall goal of this capacity-building CRCP-funded project is to establish and eventually turn over the long-term monitoring to the local partners in the jurisdiction, thereby meeting the goals of the Watershed Partnership Initiative.

An Erosion and Sediment Control Plan was implemented at Samoa Maritime quarry to reduce excess sedimentation from quarry operations, and mitigation actions from the Plan took place in 2014 to install retention basins designed to stem the input of excess sediments into Faga'alu Stream below the quarry. REA surveys conducted by CREP in 2012 and 2013 serve as the pre-mitigation baseline, and surveys conducted in 2015 by CREP and later by the American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources serve to document the downstream effects (e.g., changes to the coral community) in Faga'alu Bay from the mitigation efforts to reduce the sediment loads upstream.
Concurrent pre- and post-mitigation monitoring of turbidity and sediment load in Faga'alu is managed by San Diego State University via the CRCP-funded project titled, “Capacity Building for On-Island Impact Assessment of Sediment Load Reduction in Faga'alu Watershed, American Samoa”. Long-term monitoring of the stream is transitioning to the American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency.
Availability date:
Metadata version: 30
Keydate: 2016-04-14 19:00:18+00
Editdate: 2024-09-09 20:29:45+00