Reef Fish Surveys for Fagatele Bay, American Samoa, 2007 (NODC Accession 0068717)

Metadata also available as - [Outline] - [Parseable text] - [XML]

Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Reef Fish Surveys for Fagatele Bay, American Samoa, 2007 (NODC Accession 0068717)
Abstract:
Fish surveys were conducted in November 2007 using visual census techniques at Fagatele Bay under the guidance of Dr. Alison Green, the Nature Conservancy. This data set was collected at Transect 2, Fagatele Bay, in collaboration with surveys of NODC Accession 0066319, which is composed of coral and benthic surveys by Dr. Douglas Fenner and Dr. Charles Birkeland. Set 0066319 includes other locations on Tutuila, though this fish set is only from Fagatele Bay, and due to conditions, was restricted to Transect 2, at depths of 3, 6, 9, 12, and 18m.
Supplemental_Information:
NOAA Supplemental:Entry_ID: Unknown Sensor_Name: SCUBA Project_Campaign: American Samoa Coral Surveys Originating_Center: Dept. of Commerce, Am. Samoa and NOAA Storage_Medium: MS Excel, PDF Reference: None Online_size: 2,675 kbytes
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Dr. Alison Green; The Nature Conservancy, Unknown, Reef Fish Surveys for Fagatele Bay, American Samoa, 2007 (NODC Accession 0068717).

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -170.7638
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -170.7626
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: -14.3631
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: -14.3657
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Beginning_Date: Nov-2007
    Ending_Date: Nov-2007
    Currentness_Reference: ground condition
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?
    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    FILE FORMATS: ../data/0-data Files as received by NODC from the originator file: fagatele surveys 2007_ AG.xls format: MS Office Excel 97-2003 content: reef fish surveys 2007 by Alison Green mulitple sheets, see 1-data (below) for description of each sheet../data/1-data These files were made by NODC based on the original files in ../data/0-data. The *.pdf file was copied from NODC Accession 0066319. The *.xls files were dumped into text Comma-Separated Version (CSV) format for archival. Since the *.xls file has multiple sheets, one CSV file was created for each sheet. The filename is the same with the original name of the sheet appended with underscores added for spaces. file: Fagatele_Squair_Edit_Aug_06.pdf content: PDF/A format technical data reportfile: Map_Fagatele_Transect_Locations.jpg content: JPEG figure dipicting transect locations in Fagatele Bay file: fagatele_surveys_2007_AG_fbnms_raw_data.csv content: primary reef fish data fields: Year, Transect (only 2), depth (m), Family, Species, functional group, size for inclusion in functional group, minimum adult size, biomass conversion factors (a and b), size, number, comment file: fagatele_surveys_2007_AG_size_of_2_main_species.csv content: size data for 2 main speciesfields: size, sum of number for Cephalopholis argus and Ctenochaetus striatus, and grand totalfile: fagatele_surveys_2007_AG_size_of_4_main_families.csvcontent: size data for 4 main familiesfields: year, size, sum of number for Acanthuridae, Lutjanidae, Scaridae, Serranidae, and grand total file: fagatele_surveys_2007_AG_size_struc_4_families.csv content: size data for 4 main families fields: size, sum of number for Acanthuridae, Lutjanidae, Scaridae, Serranidae, and grand total file: fagatele_surveys_2007_AG_spec_rich_per_trans_and_depth.csv content: total species richness, sum of # species fields: transect, depth, total, year, family, species, total file: fagatele_surveys_2007_AG_Table1_of_raw_data.csv content: Family and species lists as found in technical data report fileds: transect, depth, family, species, number (count) file: fagatele_surveys_2007_AG_total_abund_per_trans_and_depth.csv content: abundance fields: year, transect, depth, total file: fagatele_surveys_2007_AG_total_and_rel_abund_fam.csv content: total and relative abundance by Family fields: sum of total, family, total, number file: fagatele_surveys_2007_AG_total_and_rel_abund_species.csv content: total and relative abundance by Species fields: sum of total, species, total, number
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: none

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
    U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Ocean Service Office of National Marine Sanctuaries American Samoa Government Department of Commerce Environment Division
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    Dr. Alison Green
    Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
    Biologist
    PO Box 1379
    Townsville, Queensland
    Australia

    (+61-7) 4729-8490 (voice)
    agreen@tnc.org

Why was the data set created?

The purpose of the ongoing monitoring of coral reef communities is to document the recovery, or further decline, of coral and fish communities in Fagatele Bay, and elsewhere around Tutuila, and to determine if reef communities have changed substantially since the combined effects of A. plancioutbreaks and hurricanes that devastated American Samoa reefs in the past 30years.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: Unknown (process 1 of 1)
    METHODOLOGY:Reef fishes were surveyed using the same underwater visual census techniques used in previous surveys: 30 x 2m belt transects laid perpendicular to the four permanent transect lines in FBNMS. This method is described in detail by Birkeland et al. (1987, 1994). In addition to recording fish species and abundance on each transect as in all previoussurveys, fish sizes have also been recorded since 1998.Due to bad weather and limited boat access, only one of the permanent transect lines (Transect 2, depths 3, 6, 9, 12 and 18m) was surveyed by Alison Green in November 2007 (this report). The remaining permanent transect lines will be surveyed by Ben Carroll, and results of these surveys will be provided when they have been completed. Alison Green also conducted the fish surveys in 1995, 1998 and 2001, while two other observers conducted the surveys in 1985 and 1988 (Richard Wass and Steve Amesbury respectively). (Only surveys from 2007 are in this data set). Data Analysis Fish data from Fagatele Bay and the three historic fish transects (FagateleBay, Cape Larsen and Sita Bay) were summarized to determine the relative abundance and species richness at each site and each depth. Fish data from the historic transects were also converted to density estimates (no. individuals per hectare) to make the data among years more comparable (to adjust for the change in sampling area in the 2004 surveys), and to match international standards for fish survey data. Long term trends in coral and fish communities in Fagatele Bay, Pago Pago Harbour and other sites around Tutuila were compared from 1977-1985 to 2007. Fish size data in Fagatele Bay are only available for the three most recent surveys (2001, 2004 and 2007). These data will be summarised at the family level to determine the size-frequency of four important fisheries families over the last seven years once all the data have been collected: Acanthuridae (surgeon fishes), Scaridae (parrot fishes), Lujanidae (snappers) and Serranidae (groupers, see Green 2002 for further details). Size frequency of two important fisheries species will also be compared over the last seven years: Cephalopholis argus (Family Serranidae) and Ctenochaetus striatus (Family Acanthuridae). INSTRUMENT TYPES: SCUBA transect tape REFERENCES: - Birkeland, C., Randall, R., Wass, R., Smith, B., Wilkins, S. 1987. Biological resource assessment of the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary.NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS MEMD 3. 232pp.- Birkeland, C., Randall, R., Amesbury, S. 1994. Coral and reef-fish assessment of the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Report to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. 126pp.- Fenner, D., Green, A., Birkeland, C., Squair, C., and Carroll, B., 2008. Long term monitoring of Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Tutuila Island, American Samoa: results of surveys conducted in 2007/8, including are-survey of the historic Aua Transect. Prepared for NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the American Samoa Department of Commerce, Environmental Division. 58 pp.- Green, A.L. 2002. Status of the coral reefs on the main volcanic islands of American Samoa: a resurvey of long term monitoring sites (benthic communities,fish communities, and key macroinvertebrates). A report prepared for the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources, P.O. Box 3730, Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799. 135 pp.- Green, A., Miller, K., and C. Mundy. 2005. Long term monitoring of Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Tutuila Island, American Samoa: results of surveys conducted in 2004, including a re-survey of the historic Aua Transect. Person who carried out this activity:
    Dr. Alison Green
    Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
    Biologist
    PO Box 1379
    Townsville, Queensland
    Australia

    (+61-7) 4729-8490 (voice)
    agreen@tnc.org
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    quality control completed
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    see methodology

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
Access_Constraints: None
Use_Constraints: Dataset credit required
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    NOAA/NESDIS/National Oceanographic Data Center
    Attn: Data Access Group, User Services Team
    SSMC-3 Fourth Floor
    Silver Spring, MD
    USA

    301-713-3277 (voice)
    301-713-3302 (FAX)
    NODC.services@noaa.gov
    Hours_of_Service: 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? Downloadable Data
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    NOAA makes no warranty regarding these data, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA, NESDIS, NODC and NCDDC cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data, nor as a result of the failure of these data to function on a particular system.
  4. How can I download or order the data?

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 06-Jan-2021
Last Reviewed: 29-Nov-2010
Metadata author:
Mr. Patrick C. Caldwell
NOAA/NESDIS/NODC/NCDDC
Hawaii/US Pacific Liaison
1000 Pope Road, MSB 316
Honolulu, Hawaii
USA

(808)-956-4105 (voice)
(808) 956-2352 (FAX)
caldwell@hawaii.edu
Hours_of_Service: 8 AM to 5 PM weekdays
Contact_Instructions: check services@nodc.noaa.gov if not available
Metadata standard:
FGDC CSDGM (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
Generated by mp version 2.9.48 on Thu Apr 18 11:01:03 2024