Annual summer bleaching of a multi-species coral community in backreef pools of American Samoa: A window on the future?
"The prevalence of bleaching was recorded in staghorn thickets of two back reef pools on a biweekly basis during the October to June bleaching season, and monthly basis for the rest of the year at Tutuila, American Samoa. Recording began in late 2003 and ...
Coral and crustose coralline algae disease on the reefs of American Samoa
"Surveys for lesions in corals were conducted at seven sites around Tutuila in June 2004 and January 2005. The objectives of the study were to document the distribution and prevalence of disease in the major genera of corals and crustose coralline algae, ...
Examination of algal diversity and benthic community structure at Palmyra Atoll, US Line Islands
"Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge is the second largest atoll under U.S. jurisdiction in the Pacific Ocean. Until recently, little was known about benthic communities and, more specifically, algal abundance at Palmyra aside from species lists genera...
Improving restoration approaches for Acropora palmata: Lessons from the Fortuna Reefer grounding in Puerto Rico
Detached Acropora palmata fragments (n=1857) generated by the M/V Fortuna Reefer grounding off Mona Island, Puerto Rico were secured to reef substrates or dead standing A. palmata skeletons using stainless steel wire. After 10 years, only 6% (n=104) of th...
Characterization of biologically significant hydrodynamic anomalies on the Florida Reef Tract
The U. S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Integrated Coral Observing Network (ICON) Project uses artificial-intelligence software to implement heuristic models of coral reef ecosystem response to physical conditions. These models us...
Assessment of coral reef ecosystems implies the acquisition of precision data and observations appropriate for answering questions about the response of multiple organisms to physical and other environmental stimuli. At the National Oceanic and Atmospheri...
The instrumental architecture of a Coral Reef Early Warning System (CREWS) station
The Integrated Coral Observing Network (ICON) program has constructed and installed a series of Coral Reef Early Warning System (CREWS) stations which provide a wealth of high-quality meteorological and oceanographic data in near real-time. CREWS stations...
Coral recruits to settlement plates at remote locations in the U.S. Pacific
Documenting the density and taxon of coral recruits to settlement plates is a widely used method of quantifying coral recruitment. Four deployments of recruitment plate arrays were made at six locations in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands at annual or bi...
Demographic comparison of threatened elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, in the Caribbean: A case study in successful volunteer partnerships in a regional-scale monitoring program
Due to severe and ongoing population declines, Acropora palmata received US federally threatened status in 2006. NOAA has since released a protocol for demographic monitoring of this genus in order to assess population status, and to encourage monitoring ...
Annual summer bleaching of a multi-species coral community in backreef pools of American Samoa: A window on the future?