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

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.

Effects of changing land use on the microbial water quality of tidal creeks.

Population growth along the southeastern United States coast has precipitated the conversion of forested watersheds to suburban and urban ones. This study sampled creeks representing forested, suburban, and urban watersheds along a longitudinal gradient for indicators of water quality, including traditional indicator bacteria (fecal coliforms and enterococci) and alternative viral indicators (male-specific and somatic coliphages). Tested microorganisms were generally distributed with highest concentrations in creek headwaters and in more developed watersheds.

Assessing the ecological condition of a coastal plain watershed using a probabilistic survey design.

Using a probabilistic survey design, we assessed the ecological condition of the Florida (U.S.A.