25283 Faga'alu: BLT 2012 Data Set Published / External 58564 Benthic Missions Project Completed 2017 The data described here were collected in Faga'alu, American Samoa in March and August 2012 via belt transect surveys of corals by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP). At a survey site, divers deployed two 25-m transects to gather information on the coral communities present there, including diversity and health status, and within each transect three 5-m segments were surveyed (beginning at 0m, 10m, and 20m). Within each segment, all coral colonies whose center fell within 0.5m of either side of the transect were identified to genus. Cases of disease and impaired health were also recorded and the type of affliction was documented. These data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive. Additionally, LPI surveys were conducted in 2012, coral demographic surveys were conducted in 2013 and 2015, photoquadrat benthic images were collected in 2012 and 2015, and the 2015 images were analyzed for benthic cover composition (all documented and archived separately). These data 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 Faga'alu Bay, Tutuila, American Samoa between 2012 and 2015. 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. S. Holst Rice, A. Messina, T. Biggs, B. Vargas-Angel, and D. Whitall. 2016. Baseline Assessment of Faga'alu Watershed: A Ridge to Reef Assessment in Support of Sediment Reduction Activities and Future Evaluation of their Success. Silver Spring, MD: NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program. NOAA Technical Memorandum CRCP 23. 44 pp. DOI: 10.7289/V5BK19C3 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. A report entitled "Baseline surveys for coral community structure and demographics in Vatia Bay and Faga'alu Bay, American Samoa" was prepared by NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program for the American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources. Theme ISO 19115 Topic Category biota Theme CRCP Project 917 Theme CRCP Project American Samoa Theme CRCP Project Comprehensive baseline assessment and pilot test of outcome performance measures in Faga'alu Bay Theme CoRIS Discovery Thesaurus Numeric Data Sets > Biology Theme CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals Theme CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Coral Diseases Theme CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Baseline studies Theme CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Benthos Analysis > Transect Monitoring > Belt Transect Theme CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > In Situ Biological Theme CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef monitoring and assessment Theme CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef monitoring and assessment > Rapid assessment studies Theme CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs Theme CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology > Benthic biology Theme CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral reef ecology Theme CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Coral Theme CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Coral Communities Theme NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS CORAL Theme NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS CORAL - BLEACHING Theme NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS CORAL - SPECIES IDENTIFICATION Theme NODC OBSERVATION TYPES THESAURUS survey - swimmer/diver Theme NODC PROJECT NAMES THESAURUS CORAL REEF STUDIES Theme NODC PROJECT NAMES THESAURUS Coral Reef Conservation Program Theme NODC SUBMITTING INSTITUTION NAMES THESAURUS US DOC; NOAA; NMFS; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center; Ecosystem Sciences Division; Coral Reef Ecosystem Program Theme CRED Theme CREP Theme Coral Reef Ecosystem Division Theme Coral Reef Ecosystem Program Theme PIFSC Theme Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Spatial CoRIS Place Thesaurus COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > Tutuila Island > Faga'alu (14S170W0005) Spatial CoRIS Place Thesaurus OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Pago Pago Harbor > Faga'alu (14S170W0005) Spatial NODC SEA AREA NAMES THESAURUS South Pacific Ocean Spatial Faga'alu Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Honolulu HI USA Data Set CSV Files None Planned Table (digital) The physical record for includes the following: region, island, site, date (day, month, year), latitude (decimal degrees), longitude (decimal degrees), transect, segment, segment length, segment width, minimum depth (feet), and maximum depth. An individual coral colony record includes colony identification, typically to genus, and condition. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/51110 While every effort has been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the limits of the current state of the art, NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. PIFSC Coral Reef Ecosystem Program and funded by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable 51110 Published / External Completed Coral belt observations (v D) 2012 Data View Yes GISDAT Coral belt observations (v D) 2012 APHIAID VARCHAR2 No No Active Aphia ID from WoRMS. Only populated if organism identified to species (see RANK). BELTTRANSECTRUN NUMBER No No Active Primary key for CORAL_BELT_TRANSECTRUN No domain defined. CLASS NVARCHAR2 No No Active Class taxonomic rank COLONYID NUMBER No No Active Colony identifier No domain defined. COND NVARCHAR2 No No Active Coral disease code of the observed coral colony COND_DESCRIPTION NVARCHAR2 No No Active Coral disease description of the observed coral colony DATE_ DATE No No Active Date the survey was conducted No domain defined. DIVER NVARCHAR2 No No Active Initials of diver conducting survey No domain defined. EXCLUDE_FLAG Unknown No No Active Flag to indicate whether site should be excluded from analysis No domain defined. FAMILY VARCHAR2 No No Active Family taxonomic rank GENUS NVARCHAR2 No No Active Genus Taxonomic Rank ISLAND NVARCHAR2 No No Active Island or atoll surveyed No domain defined. LATITUDE NUMBER No No Active Latitude in decimal degrees, WGS84, for the given site No domain defined. LONGITUDE NUMBER No No Active Longitude in decimal degrees, WGS84 for the given site No domain defined. MAXDEPTH NUMBER No No Active Maximum depth of the transect (ft) No domain defined. METHODNAME NVARCHAR2 No No Active References the coral belt survey method No domain defined. MINDEPTH NUMBER No No Active Minimum depth of the transect (ft) No domain defined. OBS_YEAR NUMBER No No Active Observation year No domain defined. PHYLUM VARCHAR2 No No Active Phylum taxonomic rank RANK VARCHAR2 No No Active Rank from WoRMS (World Register of Marine Species). REEF_ZONE NVARCHAR2 No No Active The reef zone for the given site (forereef, backreef or lagoon) No domain defined. REGION_NAME VARCHAR2 No No Active One of the five Pacific Island regions CREP surveys No domain defined. SCIENTIFIC_NAME VARCHAR2 No No Active Species Taxonomic Rank. Only populated if organism identified to species (see RANK). SEGMENT NVARCHAR2 No No Active Segment number No domain defined. SITE NVARCHAR2 No No Active The 5- to 6-character code for the site surveyed. Combines a 3-letter island code with a site number No domain defined. SITEVISITID NUMBER No No Active Unique Identifier for SITE_VISIT record No domain defined. SPECIES Unknown No No Active Species observed No domain defined. S_ORDER VARCHAR2 No No Active Order taxonomic rank TAXONNAME NVARCHAR2 No No Active Taxonomic name to lowest level identified TRANLENGTH NUMBER No No Active Transect width (m) No domain defined. TRANSECT NUMBER No No Active Transect number No domain defined. TRANWIDTH NUMBER No No Active Transect length (m) No domain defined. Data Set Credit 2012 Organization NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program CRCP 1305 East West Highway 10th Floor Silver Spring MD 20910-3281 (301) 713-3155 https://coralreef.noaa.gov Link to the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program website Online Resource Data Steward 2012 Person Vargas-Angel, Bernardo bernardo.vargasangel@noaa.gov https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2001-463X 1845 Wasp Blvd. Honolulu HI 96818 USA (808)725-5423 Distributor 2018 Organization NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information NCEI ncei.info@noaa.gov https://ror.org/04r0wrp59 https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact NCEI Contact Information Information for contacts at NCEI. Online Resource Distributor 2012 2017 Person Kanemura, Troy T troy.kanemura@noaa.gov 1845 Wasp Blvd. Honolulu HI 96818 USA (808)725-5422 Metadata Contact 2025-11-11 Person Akridge, Michael W michael.akridge@noaa.gov 1845 Wasp Blvd. Honolulu HI 96818 USA (808)725-5483 Metadata Contact 2012 Person DesRochers, Annette M annette.desrochers@noaa.gov 1845 Wasp Blvd. Honolulu HI 96818 USA (808)725-5461 8 am - 5 pm Originator 2012 Organization Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center PIFSC pifsc.info@noaa.gov https://ror.org/02apffz65 1845 Wasp Blvd. Honolulu HI 96818 USA 808-725-5360 https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center homepage Online Resource 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Point of Contact 2012 Person Vargas-Angel, Bernardo bernardo.vargasangel@noaa.gov https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2001-463X 1845 Wasp Blvd. Honolulu HI 96818 USA (808)725-5423 Ground Condition Faga'alu Bay, Tutuila, American Samoa -170.6808019 -170.6726317 -14.28706602 -14.29516353 Location of belt transect surveys in Faga'alu in 2012. Range 2012-03-28 2012-03-30 Coral demographic surveys in March 2012 Range 2012-08-14 2012-08-16 Coral demographic surveys in August 2012 Unclassified Not applicable Not applicable NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) Data Sharing Recommendations, version 9.0 updated August 12, 2015: CREP welcomes the opportunity to collaborate on research issues contributing to the scientific basis for better management of marine ecosystems. CREP has a very diverse set of field activities that generates large volumes of data using an array of data collection protocols. The following recommendations are for your consideration as you use this data: 1) Data analyses should take all field exigencies into account. The most effective way to do this would be active collaboration with CREP principal investigators. 2) In all presentations, product releases, or publications using data generated by CREP, proper acknowledgement of both CREP and the individuals responsible for data collection is expected. Citing the DOI (if available) is preferred, a non-DOI example is listed below. 3) If you collect or generate data for the same study areas, CREP requests that you share relevant information on complimentary data collections. 4) Those receiving data are strongly urged to inform the CREP Data Management Team of any errors and discrepancies that are discovered during the course of using these data. They are further urged to bring to the attention of the Team all problems and difficulties encountered in using these data. This information is necessary in order to improve the collections and to facilitate more efficient and economical data processing and retrieval. The users are asked to supply copies of any missing data that may be located, and to provide information as to significant subsets and special aggregations of data that are developed in using the material provided. Example citation: "This publication makes use of data products provided by the Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with funding support from the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP). The analysis and interpretations presented here are solely that of the current authors.” Data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive. None Please cite NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) when using the data. Example Cite as: Vargas-Angel, Bernardo; Coral Reef Ecosystem Program; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (2017). Benthic Surveys in Faga'alu, American Samoa: belt transect surveys of corals in 2012. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/25283 None None https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0169729 2018 Organization NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information https://ror.org/04r0wrp59 V0_CORAL_OBS_D FAGAALU_2012.csv Coral demographic data of corals from belt transect surveys conducted by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) in Faga'alu, Tutuila, American Samoa in 2012. 2016-02-17T00:00:00 csv (comma-separated values) CSV - Comma Separated Values (Text) https://data.nodc.noaa.gov/coris/library/NOAA/CRCP/project/917/Fagaalu_TM_CRCP_23_DOI_Cover_200.jpg Browse Graphic JPG NOAA Technical Memorandum CRCP 23: Baseline Assessment of Faga'alu Watershed https://www.coris.noaa.gov/activities/fagaaluWatershed/ Online Resource NOAA Technical Memorandum CRCP 23 Baseline Assessment of Faga'alu Watershed: A Ridge to Reef Assessment in Support of Sediment Reduction Activities and Future Evaluation of their Success https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/coral.php Online Resource PIFSC Oracle database view: v0_coral_obs_d (date and location selection criteria required to subset the dataset) Observations were made by experienced benthic survey personnel who have been trained, undergone a series of calibration surveys and coral taxon identification testing, and have met a set of minimum standards for colony assessment and taxon identification in the region. Handheld GPS units were used to locate sites and mark site locations. Only forereef, hard bottom habitats were surveyed. The survey sites were selected to be representative of the dominant habitats at this reef system. Efforts were made to include broad spatial coverage of the reef area. With the exception of the non-quantitative survey along the backreef, the same methods of data collection were used at each of the sites surveyed at this location and were conducted by the same scientists. The data is quality controlled against the physical data sheets following data entry. There are also several queries in the MS Access / Oracle database to flag errors based on pre-defined criteria. Yes Unknown Yes No Unknown NCEI-MD Unknown NOAA IRC and NOAA Fisheries ITS resources and assets. Belt transect surveys of corals (version d): belt transect survey with genus-level / disease observations 1 REA surveys are investigations that provide a high degree of taxonomic resolution for coral, algae, and other macroinvertebrate communities. During REA surveys, biological assessment teams follow highly structured protocols that are repeated at each REA site. Upon arrival at an REA site, divers entered the water and deployed two 25 m transect lines which are shared with coral surveys that gather community structure, diversity, recruitment, and health status data. The sampling effort takes between 60 and 80 min to complete. The selection of REA sites was made implementing a randomization tool on a GIS habitat bathymetry map of Fagaalu Bay, and the spatial effort allocation was proportional to the percentage of target reef habitat within two main depth strata (shallow: ~ 630 ft, and medium: 3060 ft). Factors considered during REA site selection included ensuring a range of sample sites representative of the benthic and reef fish habitats in the Bay. It is important to note that access to REA sites can be limited by wave exposure, weather conditions, and other environmental factors such as currents. Transect placement was guided by: (1) a focus on hard-bottom communities; (2) deploying lines along an isobath to the extent possible at each site, and (3) laying the transect lines into the prevailing current. 2 Within each of the two 25m transects, three 5m segments are surveyed (beginning at 0m, 10m, and 20m). In each segment, all coral colonies whose center falls within 0.5m of either side of the transect will be identified to the genus level and recorded. Cases of disease, impaired health, and partial mortality will also be recorded and any information on type of affliction documented (bleaching, skeletal growth anomaly, white syndrome, subacute tissue loss, band diseases, necroses, pigmentation responses, algal and fungal infections, as well as other diseases of unknown etiology, and predation). 51110 Entity 25371 Data Set Cross Reference 32707 Data Set Cross Reference 25370 Data Set Cross Reference 25369 Data Set Cross Reference gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:25283 Annette DesRochers 2015-06-08T19:19:12 SysAdmin InPortAdmin 2026-03-04T19:17:28 2020-01-13 Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center PIFSC 1845 Wasp Blvd. Honolulu HI 96818 USA 808-725-5300 https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 1001 Public No No 2020-01-13 1 Year 2021-01-13 0.0001 0.0001 Decimal degrees World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) Geodetic Reference System 80 (GRS80) 6378137 298.2572236