Bat
art used with permission from Posts and Telecommunications Dept., Apia, Samoa.
GENERAL
TOPICS
MARINE
ENVIRONMENT
TERRESTRIAL
ENVIRONMENT
Birds
Preface &
Acknowledgments
This
collection of articles provides a glimpse into the marine and wildlife resources
in American Samoa's tropical, oceanic environment. The articles were written biologists
at the Department of Marine & Wildlife Resources (DMWR), National Park of
American Samoa (NPS), Land Grant Program at the American Samoa Community College
(ASCC), and University of Hawaii (UH). Our purpose in writing was to make the
results of our studies available to teachers, students, visitors and whoever else
might be curious about Samoa's environment. The use of English, Samoan and scientific
names of plants and animals varies among chapters, so the reader is referred to
cross-referenced lists in the species checklists and the plant index at the end
of this report (Appendix 2).
Several individuals, organizations and publishers
kindly allowed their illustrations to be reprinted in this volume; their credits
are listed in Appendix 3. Special thanks to Dick Watling for permission to reproduce
the excellent pictures from his books “Birds of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa”
and “Birds of Fiji and Western Polynesia” (Pacificbirds.com).
Joshua Seamon, Matt Le'i, Larry Basch and Tavita Togia provided comments throughout
the text, and Tavita Togia and Art Whistler provided the plant reference list
in the Appendix 2. Lelei Peau spearheaded the effort to translate the Guide into
the Samoan language.
Support to DMWR was provided by the Federal Aid
in Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Acts. Printing was made possible by grants
from the Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit at the University of Hawaii, the National
Park Service and the American Samoa Coral Reef Advisory Group.
