Identification_Information:
  Citation:
    Citation_Information:
      Originator: Dr. Charles Birkeland
      Originator:
        Affiliation at time of data collection:
        University of Guam Marine Laboratory

        Affiliation as of year 2000 onward:
        U.S. Department of the Interior
        U.S. Geological Survey
        Hawaii Cooperative Fishery Research Center
        University of Hawaii at Manoa
      Publication_Date: Unknown
      Title:
        Coral Reef Surveys of Fagatele National Marine
        Sanctuary and Other Sites of Tutuila, American Samoa
        during 1995 and 1998.
      Series_Information:
        Series_Name: None
        Issue_Identification: None
      Publication_Information:
        Publication_Place: Unpublished Material
        Publisher: Unpublished Material
      Online_Linkage:
        http://www.nodc.noaa.gov (via "NODC Data Direct"
        section)
  Description:
    Abstract:
      Six permanent transects in Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary, American 
      Samoa, and 11 other sites around Tutuila Island were established in 1985.
      This dataset contains coral reef surveys taken in 1995 and 1998 along
      these established transect lines.  Data were taken on 30-m transects
      along isobaths on the reef platform and at depths of 3, 5, 9, and
      12 m.  Data on algae, fish, and macroinvertebrates were also collected 
      by other investigators, but are not included with this data set.
    Purpose:
      A quantitative assessment of the biological resources of Fagatele Bay
      National Marine Sanctuary, American Samoa, was undertaken in order to
      provide a baseline against which changes in time could be examined
      rigourously.  A secondary objective was to determine the rate of
      recovery of the coral communities around Tutuila following the 
      outbreak of Acanthaster Planci.
  Time_Period_of_Content:
    Time_Period_Information:
      Multiple_Dates/Times:
        Single_Date/Time:
          Calendar_Date: 199507
        Single_Date/Time:
          Calendar_Date: 199804
    Currentness_Reference: Ground condition
  Status:
    Progress: In work
    Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: Irregular
  Spatial_Domain:
    Bounding_Coordinates:
      West_Bounding_Coordinate: -170.76891
      East_Bounding_Coordinate: -170.56343
      North_Bounding_Coordinate: -14.25201
      South_Bounding_Coordinate: -14.36605
  Keywords:
    Theme:
      Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
      Theme_Keyword: Coastal studies
      Theme_Keyword: Coral reef monitoring and assessment
      Theme_Keyword: Coral
      Theme_Keyword: Coral reef
      Theme_Keyword: Coral species abundance
      Theme_Keyword: Census
      Theme_Keyword: Numeric Data Sets
      Theme_Keyword: Numeric Data Sets - oceanographic
      Theme_Keyword: Numeric Data Sets - benthic
      Theme_Keyword: Numeric Data Sets - biology
    Place:
      Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
      Place_Keyword: Pacific Ocean
      Place_Keyword: American Samoa
      Place_Keyword: Fagatele Bay
      Place_Keyword: Tutuila Island
      Place_Keyword: Aunu'u
      Place_Keyword: Aua
      Place_Keyword: Rainmaker
      Place_Keyword: Masefau
      Place_Keyword: Fatu Rock
      Place_Keyword: Fagasa
      Place_Keyword: Cape Larsen
      Place_Keyword: Massacre Bay
      Place_Keyword: Onenoa
      Place_Keyword: Fagafue
    Stratum:
      Stratum_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
      Stratum_Keyword: Benthic
  Access_Constraints: None
  Use_Constraints: Dataset credit required
  Point_of_Contact:
    Contact_Information:
      Contact_Organization_Primary:
        Contact_Organization: NOAA/National Oceanographic Data Center
      Contact_Position: NODC User Services Group Leader
      Contact_Address:
        Address_Type: Mailing and physical address
        Address: SSMC3 Fourth Floor
        Address: 1315 East West Highway
        City: Silver Spring
        State_or_Province: Maryland
        Postal_Code: 20910-3282
        Country: USA
      Contact_Voice_Telephone: 301-713-3277
      Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 301-713-3302
      Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: services@nodc.noaa.gov
      Hours_of_Service: 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday Through Friday
      Contact_Instructions: Phone/FAX/e-mail  
  Data_Set_Credit:
    Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
    National Ocean Service, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management,
    Marine and Estuarine Management Division
  Native_Data_Set_Environment: Quattro Pro, Wordperfect.  3.8 Mbytes.  
Data_Quality_Information:
  Logical_Consistency_Report: see methodology
  Completeness_Report: see files faga_inv.txt and others_inv.txt
  Lineage:
    Process_Step:
      Process_Description:
        The corals were surveyed using the point-quarter method 
        (Birkeland et al. 1987).  An advantage of the point-quarter
        method over the quadrat method is that when the individual
        colonies are scattered widely, the point-quarter method
        allows the investigator to measure preciesely the
        abundances of the corals whereas only zeroes are collected
        by the quadrat method.  

        Location of transects: In order to provide the means by 
        which our surveys could be related to maps of Fagatele Bay and
        in order to enable others to repeat these surveys, the surveys
        were conducted in Fagatele Bay in terms of the orientation
        to permanent transect markers.  These permanent markers are 
        large, galvanized 3/4-inch diameter spikes.  They were driven
        into the substrate with a 10-pound sledge hammer.  Six 
        permanent transects were established, with Transects 1-5 each
        marked with three permanent markers, one at the beginning
        of the transect at the seaward edge of the reef flat or on an
        offshore mound where the reef front begins, a second at roughly
        the halfway mark at 20 feet, and the third at the end of the
        transect at 40 feet.

        Depth profiles were taken along each of the six permanent
        transects with distance measured along a tape and depth
        measured with a depth gauge.  Lines of any material are either
        large enough to uproot the permanent markers or else they
        are small enough to deteriorate or be broken.  If left
        permanently in place, lines could damage or otherwise
        affect the benthic community below.  Therefore, only the markers,
        not the lines, can be permanent.  The permanent transects run
        roughly perpindicular to the shoreline across depth zones.

        Actual quantitative sampling was done along 30-meter replicate
        transects within each zone, generally perpendicular to the transect
        lines and roughly parallel to shore.  This is a stratified random 
        sampling program.  Replicate transects within zones are 
        necessary for statistical analysis and for the calculation of 
        confidence limits on abundance estimates.  To cross several
        zones along a depth gradient within a sample adds a tremendous
        variance within each sample and prohibits a comparison between
        zones.  Transect lines running across zones are attractive and
        perhaps provide clearer information for descriptive purposes, but
        the resulting data are difficult to analyze statistically 
        because several zones would be represented by a single statistic.
        To make quantitative statements about the results of a survey
        across zones of a coral reef system, it is best to take replicate
        transects and replicate counts within transects as stratified 
        random samples within zones or depth contours.  This allows
        discrete estimates of variance between zones with compariable
        replicate transects of equal length.

        A stratified random sampling program is used when the total area
        or population being studied is divided into several well defined,
        relatively homogeneous subareas or subpopulations, each of which 
        is sampled randomly.  When an entire study area is sampled randomly,
        nearly all of the samples might fall within one of the subareas and
        the other subareas would be inadequately represented.  Because of
        this, the more efficient methods of stratified random sampling
        are always preferable to simple random sampling.

        Transects at locations outside Fagatele Bay and two 100-m
        fish transects in Fagatele Bay which were surveyed on previous
        years were laid along the bottom and located at the sites of
        previous surveys by memory of the previous investigators.  We
        expect that only those transects witin the Fagatele Bay
        Marine Sanctuary will be monitored by others.  

        For sessile benthic organisms that are found as discrete colonies
        or individuals, the point-quarter technique has been found to be
        most efficient. 

        The basic concept of the point-quarter method is that the average
        abundance of coral species or other species of sessile organisms
        can be measured by the average distances from random points to the
        center of colonies or individuals.  The shorter the average distance 
        from a random point to the nearest colony, the more colonies ther must
        be per unit area.  When the average distance is squared, an average 
        square area occupied by one individual or colony is obtained.  If the
        average occupied area is divided into the unit area, the abundance
        or density or number of individuals per unit area will be obtained.
        The average surface coverage for each species can then be obtained
        by multiplying the average surface area of colonies of each species 
        times their average abundances.

        The random points from which measurements are made can be obtained
        by laying a transect, by randomly tossing an object with right angles
        in its structure, or by a comination of both by tossing an object at
        pointes along a transect.  Four measurements must be made from each 
        random point, one and only one in each quadrant.  The four quadrants 
        can be visualized as marked by the transect line and an imaginary
        line running perpendicular to the transect line through the point,
        one line running along the handle of the hammer and another 
        perpendicular to the hanlde through the head with the imaginary
        point from which measurements are made being the intersections
        of the handle with the head, or imaginary lines at right angles to
        each other as determined by any other object being tossed at
        random, e.g., a dive knife.

        The first measurement of to be made in each quadrant is the distance
        from the sample point to the center of the nearest colony or to
        the center the nearest item being sampled.  The next two measurements
        are the length or longest dimension and the width or longest
        dimension at right angles to the width.  

        The area of each colony is estimated by multiplying the length
        times the width and taking the square root (the geometric mean
        diameter).  The mean diameter is then dividide by 2 to obtain
        the radius which is squared and multiplied by pi to obtain
        an estimate of the area.

        If the colony is not roughly circular but instead is somewhat
        rectangular, triangular, "L"-shaped, or of some other configuration,
        the area may be estimated however the observer believes is best
        without spending too much time, i.e., when the error is precision 
        of area-estimation is more than compensated by the number
        of data that there is time to collect.  If one spends too much
        time increasing the precision of measurements of an individual
        coral, the accuracy of conclusions are lost in the fewer
        measurements taken when the variance between the size of colonies 
        is large compared to the error variance of each measurement.

        It is important to remember to measure to the nearest colony center.
        The borders of some colonies may be nearer than the centers of 
        other colonies, but you should be measuring to the nearest center.

        Computations:

        density (abundance) of all species = unit area / (mean distance)**2

        relative density (abundance) of a particular species =
          number of a particular species measured / total number of
          individuals measured

        density (abundance) of a particular species =
          (density of all species ) x (relative density)

        percent cover of all species = 
          (average areal size of all species) x (density of all species)

        percent cover of a particular species =
          (average areal size or a particular species) x
          density of a particular species)

        relative percent cover of a particular species =
          percent cover of a particular species / percent cover of all species

        importance value = relative frequency + relative density +
          relative percent cover
      Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation:
        Birkeland, C. E., R.H. Randall, R.C. Wass, B.Smith, and S.Wilkins,
          1987. Biological Resource Assesment of the Fagtele Bay National
          Marine Sanctuary.  NOAA Tech. Mem. Ser. NOS/MEMD 3. 232 pp.

        Green, A. L., C. E. Birkeland, and R.H. Randall, 1997. 78 Years
          of Coral Reef Degradation in Pago Pago Harbor: A Quantitative
          Record.  Proceedings, 8th International Coral Reef Symposium,
          Panama 2: 1883-1888. 

        Green, A. L., C. E. Birkeland, and R.H. Randall, 1999.  Twenty Years
          of Disturbance and Change in Fagtele Bay National Marine Sanctuary,
          American Samoa.  Pacific Science, vol. 53, no. 4, pp 376-400.
      Process_Date: Unknown
      Process_Contact:
        Contact_Information:
          Contact_Person_Primary:
            Contact_Person: Dr. Charles Birkeland
            Contact_Organization:
              U.S. Department of the Interior
              U.S. Geological Survey
              Hawaii Cooperative Fishery Research Center
              University of Hawaii at Manoa
          Contact_Address:
            Address_Type: physical
            Address: Edmonton 164, University of Hawaii at Manoa
            City: Honolulu
            State_or_Province: Hawaii
            Postal_Code: 96822
            Country: USA
          Contact_Voice_Telephone: (808)956-8350
Metadata_Reference_Information:
  Metadata_Date: 20011121
  Metadata_Contact:
    Contact_Information:
      Contact_Person_Primary:
        Contact_Person: Mr. Patrick C. Caldwell
        Contact_Organization: NOAA/NESDIS/NODC/NCDDC
      Contact_Position: Hawaii/US Pacific Liaison
      Contact_Address:
        Address_Type: mailing
        Address: 1000 Pope Road, MSB 316
        Address: Dept. of Oceanography
        Address: University of Hawaii at Manoa
        City: Honolulu
        State_or_Province: Hawaii
        Postal_Code: 96822
        Country: USA
      Contact_Voice_Telephone: (808)-956-4105
      Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (808) 956-2352
      Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: caldwell@soest.hawaii.edu
      Hours_of_Service: 8 AM to 5 PM weekdays
      Contact_Instructions: check services@nodc.noaa.gov if not available
  Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC CSDGM
  Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998
