Resurvey of a reef flat in American Samoa after 85 years reveals devastation to a soft coral (Alcyonacea) community

Cornish, Andrew S.; DiDonato, Eva

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2003.11.004

Cited by 29 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…8), at the end of the 19th Century, coincides approximately with the intense anthropization of Pago Pago Harbor. A resurvey by (Cornish & DiDonato, ) of a reef flat earlier described by (Mayor, ) allowed a comparative study between 1920 and 2004 and showed that this anthropization resulted in the decline of the coral colonies of Pago Pago Bay. Following this hypothesis, the decline of the reef colonies in the bay induced a lack of available coral to be broken and carried away during the most recent tsunamis, including that in 2009, but also during the 1917 and 1960 tsunamis, as observed in the cores.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The sediment‐fill of Pago Pago Bay (Tutuila Island, American Samoa): New insights on the sediment record of past tsunamis

et al. 2019

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Extensive bathymetric and two‐dimensional seismic surveys have been carried out and cores collected in Pago Pago Bay (Tutuila, American Samoa) in order to describe and gain a better understanding of the sediment fill of the bay, which was affected by the 2009 South Pacific Tsunami. Eight sedimentary units were identified over the volcanic bedrock. The basal transgressive unit displays retrograding onlaps towards the shore, whereas the overlying seven aggradational layers alternate between four draping units and three pinching out seaward units. ‘Core to seismic’ correlation reveals that draping units are composed of homogeneous silts, while pinching out units are dominated by very coarse coral fragments showing fresh cuts, mixed with Halimeda plates. The basal unit is attributed to transgressive sedimentation in response to flooding of the bay after the last glacial maximum, followed by the upper aggradational units corresponding to highstand sedimentation. The changeovers in these upper units indicate an alternation between low‐energy silt units and high‐energy coral debris units interpreted as tsunami‐induced deposits. The 14C dating reveals that high‐energy sedimentation units can last up to approximately 2000 years while low‐energy sedimentation units can last up to approximately 1000 years. This alternation, deposited during the last highstand, may be explained by cycles of tectonic activity and quiescence of the Tonga Trench subduction, which is the main source of tsunamigenic earthquakes impacting the Samoan archipelago. In the uppermost silt unit, only the geochemical signature of the terrestrial input of the 2009 SPT backwash deposits was detected between 7 cm and 9 cm depth. Hence, Pago Pago Bay offers a unique sediment record of Holocene bay‐fill under the impact of past tsunamis intermittently during the last 7000 years.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The sediment‐fill of Pago Pago Bay (Tutuila Island, American Samoa): New insights on the sediment record of past tsunamis

et al. 2019

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“…Up to this point, there has been intensive study of Pago Pago Harbor, and piecemeal investigations concerning water quality, coral reef community dynamics (Dahl 1981;Green et al 1999;Cornish and DiDonato 2004;Houk et al 2005), and fish populations (Craig 1996) in parts of the Territory. Our objectives for this study were to collect water quality data and use those data to assess the current condition of the Territory with respect to local water quality standards.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing coastal waters of American Samoa: territory-wide water quality data provide a critical “big-picture” view for this tropical archipelago

DiDonato

Smith

et al. 2008

Environ Monit Assess

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The coastal waters of American Samoa's five high islands (Tutuila, Aunu'u, Ofu, Olosega, and Ta'u) were surveyed in 2004 using a probabilistic design. Water quality data were collected from the near-shore coastal habitat, defined as all near-shore coastal waters including embayments, extending out to 1/4 mile off-shore. Hydrography and water column samples were collected, and water quality data were compared to the Territorial water quality standards for pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), Enterococcus, chlorophyll a, water clarity, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus. All station measurements for pH, DO, and Enterococcus satisfied the local water quality standards, although some fraction of the Territory could not be assessed for either DO or Enterococcus. With respect to chlorophyll a, 66 +/- 18% of Territory coastal waters complied with the standard, while 34 +/- 18% failed to comply with the standard. For water clarity, 54 +/- 18% of the Territorial waters complied with the standard while 42 +/- 7% failed to comply. Territorial waters satisfied the standards for total nitrogen and phosphorus 72 +/- 17% and 92 +/- 10%, respectively. These data provide the first "big-picture" view of water quality in the near shore region around the high islands of American Samoa. While the picture is encouraging, these data suggest emerging water quality concerns.

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“…Species occurrences in the study area were recorded from all available literature (Mayor 1924a(Mayor , 1924bHoffmeister 1925;Dahl and Lamberts 1977;USACE 1980;Dahl 1981;Lamberts 1983;Birkeland et al 1987Birkeland et al , 2003Birkeland et al , 2013Itano and Buckley 1988;Hoeksema 1989;Hunter et al 1993;Maragos et al 1994Maragos et al , 1995Mundy 1996;Green et al 1997;Green and Hunter 1998;Green et al 1999;Mundy and Green 1999;Craig et al 2001;Work and Rameyer 2002;Wolstenholme et al 2003;Cornish and DiDonato 2004;DiDonato et al 2006;Fenner et al 2008;Lovell and McLardy 2008;Forsman and Birkeland 2009;; Bare et al 2010;Benzoni et al 2010;Kenyon et al 2010Kenyon et al , 2011CRED 2011;Corals NPAS 2016;Fenner and Sudek 2016;AM 2018;BPBM 2018;DMWR 2018;QM 2018;NMNH 2018;Creuwels 2019;Gross 2019;…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Annotated checklist for stony corals of American Sāmoa with reference to mesophotic depth records

Montgomery¹,

Fenner²,

Toonen³

2019

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An annotated checklist of the stony corals (Scleractinia, Milleporidae, Stylasteridae, and Helioporidae) of American Sāmoa is presented. A total of 377 valid species has been reported from American Sāmoa with 342 species considered either present (251) or possibly present (91). Of these 342 species, 66 have a recorded geographical range extension and 90 have been reported from mesophotic depths (30–150 m). Additionally, four new species records (AcanthastreasubechinataVeron, 2000,FavitesparaflexuosusVeron, 2000,EchinophylliaechinoporoidesVeron & Pichon, 1980,TurbinariairregularisBernard, 1896) are presented. Coral species of concern include species listed under the US Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of threatened species. Approximately 17.5% of the species present or possibly present are categorized as threatened by IUCN compared to 27% of the species globally. American Sāmoa has seven ESA-listed or ESA candidate species, includingAcroporaglobiceps(Dana, 1846),AcroporajacquelineaeWallace, 1994,Acroporaretusa(Dana, 1846),Acroporaspeciosa(Quelch, 1886),Fimbriaphylliaparadivisa(Veron, 1990),Isoporacrateriformis(Gardiner, 1898), andPocilloporameandrinaDana, 1846. There are two additional species possibly present, i.e.,Pavonadiffluens(Lamarck, 1816) andPoritesnapoporaVeron, 2000.

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Resurvey of a reef flat in American Samoa after 85 years reveals devastation to a soft coral (Alcyonacea) community

Cited by 29 publications

References 23 publications

The sediment‐fill of Pago Pago Bay (Tutuila Island, American Samoa): New insights on the sediment record of past tsunamis

The sediment‐fill of Pago Pago Bay (Tutuila Island, American Samoa): New insights on the sediment record of past tsunamis

Assessing coastal waters of American Samoa: territory-wide water quality data provide a critical “big-picture” view for this tropical archipelago

Annotated checklist for stony corals of American Sāmoa with reference to mesophotic depth records

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