Resurvey of a reef flat in American Samoa after 85 years reveals devastation to a soft coral (Alcyonacea) community
Cornish A and Didonato E. 2004. Resurvey of a reef flat in American Samoa after 85 years reveals devastation to a soft coral (Alcyonacea) community. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 48:768-777
One of the earliest quantitative surveys of soft corals, on a reef flat in Pago Pago Harbour, American Samoa, was repeated 85 years later. The alcyoniid communities there, which were the dominant benthic organisms during the initial survey, have suffered a drastic decline of 99% cover in the interim. The most likely causes of the decline are anthropogenic disturbances associated with reclamation along the harbour from the 1940s to early 1960s, compounded by chronic pollution from industrial wastewater discharge from the mid-1950s to later 1980s. The decline in one dominant species, Sinularia polydactyla, is likely to have serious consequences for the reef as unusually for a soft coral, this had been the major reef building species. Life-history traits of certain Sinularia and Sarcophyton, such as slow growth and low rates of sexual reproduction, mean they will be slower to recover from severe disturbance than many scleractinian corals.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Cornish, Andrew; Didonato, Eva
- Units
- NPSA , PACN
- Keywords
- Alcyoniidae, American Samoa, Animal Studies, Coastal-Marine Systems, Coral Reefs, Disturbance, Sinularia polydactyla, soft coral, Water Quality