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    • Coral reef ecosystem marine protected area monitoring in Fagamalo, American Samoa: comprehensive assessment of coral demography (adult and juvenile corals) from belt transect surveys in 2015

    Metadata Updated: December 13, 2025

    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 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. These data include:

    1) an assessment of coral colony density and size-class distribution for the selected monitoring sites; 2) an assessment of coral recruitment at the monitoring sites; and 3) an evaluation of coral colony condition, including mortality, disease, and bleaching.

    These data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive. Additionally, photoquadrat benthic images were also collected (documented and archived separately).

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Date December 3, 2025
    Metadata Created Date October 19, 2024
    Metadata Updated Date December 13, 2025
    Reference Date(s) 2017 (publication)
    Frequency Of Update notPlanned

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NMFS PIFSC

    Other Data Resources

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Date December 3, 2025
    Metadata Created Date October 19, 2024
    Metadata Updated Date December 13, 2025
    Reference Date(s) 2017 (publication)
    Responsible Party (Point of Contact, Custodian)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:30775
    Access Constraints Cite As: Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, [Date of Access]: Coral reef ecosystem marine protected area monitoring in Fagamalo, American Samoa: comprehensive assessment of coral demography (adult and juvenile corals) from belt transect surveys in 2015 [Data Date Range], https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/30775., Access Constraints: None, Use Constraints: 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). Coral reef ecosystem marine protected area monitoring in Fagamalo, American Samoa: comprehensive assessment of coral demographics from belt transect surveys in 2015. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/30775, Distribution Liability: 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.
    Bbox East Long -170.79879018
    Bbox North Lat -14.28060332
    Bbox South Lat -14.29253127
    Bbox West Long -170.81195363
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update notPlanned
    Harvest Object Id 26dbc302-b7c7-4f42-bb5f-c89c2bd0b02f
    Harvest Source Id c0beac72-5f43-4455-8c33-1b345fbc2dfe
    Harvest Source Title NMFS PIFSC
    Licence NOAA provides no warranty, nor accepts any liability occurring from any incomplete, incorrect, or misleading data, or from any incorrect, incomplete, or misleading use of the data. It is the responsibility of the user to determine whether or not the data is suitable for the intended purpose.
    Lineage 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) following the same protocol to that established by the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP).
    Metadata Language eng
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-170.81195363, -14.29253127], [-170.79879018, -14.29253127], [-170.79879018, -14.28060332], [-170.81195363, -14.28060332], [-170.81195363, -14.29253127]]]}
    Progress completed
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 2015-10-26
    Temporal Extent End 2015-11-13

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