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I. INTRODUCTION The Geography Samoa is a volcanic archipelago situated in the south I'acitic Ocean at a latitude of 13 - 15" south and a longitude of 168 - 173" west, and runs in a west-northwest direction east of Fiji, north of Tonga, south of Tokelau, and west of Niue and the Cook Islands (Fig. 1). It comprises nine inhabited volcanic islands and two distant atolls, and has a total area of ca. 3 100 km2. The archipelago is divided politically into Western Samoa, which is an independent country, and American Samoa, which is an unincorporated territory of the United States. American Samoa, which comprises the east end of the archipelago, consists of five main volcanic islands (Tutuila, 'Aunu'u, Ofu, Olosega, and Ta'u) and two atolls (Rose and Swains). Tutuila, on which this unit of the new proposed park is located (other units are on Ofu and Ta'u), is the westernmost and by far the largest of the islands of American Samoa. It has an area of approximately 142 km2 and a maximum elevation of 653 m on top of Matafao (Amerson et a/. 1982). The proposed Tutuila unit of the National Park of American Samoa is located on the north central part of the island, between the villages of Fagasa on the west and Afono on the east (Fig. 2 & 3). The village of Vatia is situated in the center of the park, and the boundaries around it begin at about the 200 ft elevational line. The northern boundary is the I'acific Ocean, and the southern boundary is the slope leading from Pago Pago Harbor up to Alava Ridge. The highest elevation in the Tutuila unit of the park is Mt. Alava at 490 m (1610 ft), where a TV tower is located, and the total area of the park is 2,770 acres (National Park Service 1988). The Ofu unit is discussed in Appendix D. The CIimate Since American Samoa comprises small islands situated between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Equator, its climate is maritime and tropical. It belongs to Koeppen's "tropical climate zone" characterized by average monthly temperatures of more than 1 8"C, no winter season, and abundant annual rainfall that exceeds annual evaporation. The mean daily temperature for Tutuila is 26.7"C (80°F), with an average maximum daily of 29.7"C (85.4"F) and an average minimum daily of 23.6"C (74.6"F). There is not much seasonal variation, with the warmest month being March (27.2"C, 80.9OF) and the coolest being August (25.9"C, 78.7"F) (Nakamura 1984). The rainfall at the airport at Tafuna on the south-central coast of Tutuila averages about 3200 mm (124 in) per year (Nakamura 1984). The monthly average there from October to May is 300 mm (12 in), while in the dry season from June to September it is 180 mm (7 in). This variation is strongly affected by the tradewinds, which blow regularly from the southeast from about April to December. The months when they are absent are characterized by storms coming in from other directions. Topographic features strongly effect these totals in some places. For example, Pago Pago, which lies just to the west of "Rainmaker" (Matafao) mountain, averages nearly 5000 mm (200 in) a year. There is probably not too much of a rainshadow effect, since the island is not very high in elevation, but more rain would be expected to fall on the south and east coasts than on the north and west coasts, as in Western Samoa (Wright 1963). The relative humidity is constantly high, ranging between 82 and 86% (at 5 p.m.) throughout the year (Amerson et al. 1982). Droughts of varying duration occasionally occur, but these do not have much permanent effect on the vegetation. Hurricanes, the most recent of which were in 1987 (known as Tusi), 1990 (Ofa), and 1991 (Val), periodically hit the islands, but the occurrence of three strong hurricanes in such close proximity is unusual. The Geology Samoa is a volcanic archipelago that is "oceanic" in origin, i.e., it was formed from basalt rising from a "hot spot" on the ocean floor of the Pacific plate beyond the continental islands to the west. The archipelago was born in isolation, and has never had a connection to any other land area. The islands originated in the Pliocene Epoch (over two million years ago), and were formed generally in a westerly direction, with the youngest on the west end of the chain (Savai'i in Western Samoa) and the oldest on the east end (Rose Atoll). The most recent volcanic activity in American Samoa was a submarine eruption between Ta'u and Olosega in 1866. The only signs of geologically recent volcanism on Tutuila are the Tafuna Plain, and several adjacent
Figure 3 VEGETATION TYPE MAP Tutuila Unit National Park of American Samoa m LEGEND VEGETATION NPES MATAPAI POINT = PROPOSED PARK MU LOWLAND FORE- LHSTURBED VEGETATION nEW WORK CONDUCTED tM DR MT WHISTLER. 1993 LITTOR4 VEGETATION MONTANE FOREST MONTANE SCRUB
Page 1 and 2: COOPERATIVE NATIONAL PARK RESOURCES
Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTS I . INTRODUCTION
Page 5: LEGEND B \ PROPOSED PARK AREA OFU I
Page 9 and 10: Figure 4. Pago Pago Bay, with Mt. M
Page 11 and 12: 'IJpolu, and 'Ta'u as well). The on
Page 13 and 14: nu pucijicuJ; an Eurya? [Eurya pick
Page 15 and 16: category recognized in the report o
Page 17 and 18: Figure 10. Tuafanua Beach west of V
Page 19 and 20: Figure 12. Littoral shrubland veget
Page 21 and 22: Figure 14. Littoral shrubland veget
Page 23 and 24: Figure 16. Littoral forest north of
Page 25 and 26: Soils differ in origin and age of t
Page 27 and 28: example on Tutuila is the climbing
Page 29 and 30: When undisturbed, the floor of the
Page 31 and 32: incrme (aloalo tai) may also be com
Page 34 and 35: coastal ridges, decreases in import
Page 36 and 37: Scvcral other trees are characteris
Page 38 and 39: poIvon/l~os, Dtrvulliu solidu (whic
Page 40 and 41: Although Mauga-o-Tula lacks some of
Page 42 and 43: introduced weeds, many of the Polyn
Page 44 and 45: even mature secondary forest, it le
Page 46 and 47: there). No increased access should
Page 48 and 49: Whistler, W. A. 1976. Wetlands of A
Page 50 and 51: Acrostichum aureum L. [swamp fern]
Page 52 and 53: Uncommon in montane to cloud forest
Page 54 and 55: 171 ; Setchell 393; Christophersen
Page 56 and 57:
of the costa. Uncommon in montane t
Page 58 and 59:
liom China to I'itcairn Island. USE
Page 60 and 61:
lamina deeply cut into 1-10 lobes,
Page 62 and 63:
Antrophyum alatum Bracken. VITTARIA
Page 64 and 65:
weed in villages and along roadside
Page 66 and 67:
650 111 clevi~tion. A modern introd
Page 68 and 69:
Vernonia cinerea (L.) Less. [ironwe
Page 70 and 71:
Uncomnion in secondary forest, prob
Page 72 and 73:
from near sea level to 400 m elevat
Page 74 and 75:
*Charnaesyce prostrata (Ait.) Small
Page 76 and 77:
elevation. A modern introduction, n
Page 78 and 79:
Macroptilium lathyroides (L.) Urb.
Page 80 and 81:
Cyrtandra samoensis A. Gray momolea
Page 82 and 83:
'Thespesia populnea (L.) Sol. ex Co
Page 84 and 85:
Ficus prolixa Forst. f. [banyan] ao
Page 86 and 87:
found in Tonga, Futuna, and Fiji. S
Page 88 and 89:
Peperomia pellucida (L,.) Kunth POL
Page 90 and 91:
*Gardenia taitensis DC. "Hedyotis c
Page 92 and 93:
elevation. This species should be t
Page 94 and 95:
"Physalis angulata L. 1 wild cape g
Page 96 and 97:
*Etatosterna scabriusculum Setchell
Page 98 and 99:
Epipremnum pinnaturn (L.) Engl. Ili
Page 100 and 101:
Mariscus secmannianus (Boeck.) Pall
Page 102 and 103:
*Bulbophyllurn samoanum Schlechter
Page 104 and 105:
Malaxis resupinata (Forst. f.) Kunt
Page 106 and 107:
F. homhronii Mart.; it differs from
Page 108 and 109:
this in D. ciliaris, but the two ha
Page 110 and 111:
Paspalurn orbiculare Forst. f. Mcdi
Page 112 and 113:
APPENDIX B: PLOT DATA (Basal area i
Page 114 and 115:
PLOT 4: MULIULU LOWLAND RIDGE FORES
Page 116 and 117:
PLOT 6: TIATAUALA LOWLAND RIDGE FOR
Page 118 and 119:
PLOT 8: OLO LOWLAND RIDGE FOREST (2
Page 120 and 121:
PLOT 10: AMALAU LOWLAND VALLEY FORE
Page 122 and 123:
PLOT 12: ALAVA MONTANE FOREST* (400
Page 124 and 125:
APPENDIX C: SEASONALITY OF IMPORTAN
Page 126 and 127:
MORACEAE Ikus godcfl'royi 1;icus ob
Page 128 and 129:
SPECIES FAMILY FLOWERING DATES FRUI
Page 130 and 131:
2. Littoral Shrubland Two types of
Page 132 and 133:
the relatively undisturbed places,
Page 134 and 135:
harvcyana (laupata), Morinda citrif
Page 136 and 137:
APPENDIX F. SUMMARY OF THE VASCULAR
Page 138 and 139:
VIlTAKIACEAE Amrophyurn alaturn Ant
Page 140 and 141:
Species FAMILY Status* E I P M ....
Page 142 and 143:
MYRSINACEAE Embelia vaupelii Maesa
Page 144 and 145:
Species FAMILY Status* E I P M VEKB
Page 146:
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