Preface & Acknowledgments
 Bat art used with permission from Posts and Telecommunications Dept., Apia, Samoa. |
This collection of articles provides a glimpse into the marine and wildlife resources in American Samoa's tropical, oceanic environment. The articles were written by 8 biologists at the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR), National Park of American Samoa (NPS) and Land Grant Program at the American Samoa Community College (ASCC). Our purpose in writing these was to make the results of our studies available to local teachers, students, visitors and whoever else might be curious about Samoa's unique environment. The use of English, Samoan and scientific names of plants and animals varies among pages, so the reader is referred to cross-reference lists in the mammal and reptile checklist, bird checklist, and the plant index.
Several individuals, organizations and publishers have kindly allowed their illustrations to be used.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, and Larry Basch provided comments throughout the text, and Tavita Togia and Art Whistler provided the plant reference list. Support to DMWR was provided by the Federal Aid in Sportfish and Wildlife Restoration Acts.
It is permissible to use these articles for educational purposes or to modify them to reflect local conditions in other islands; an acknowledgement would be appreciated.