Persistent and substantial impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on deep-sea megafauna.

Autor: McClain CR; Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, 8124 Highway 56, Chauvin, LA 70344, USA.; Department of Biology, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, 410 East St. Mary Boulevard, Billeaud Hall, Lafayette, LA 70503, USA.; Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, College of the Coast and Environment, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA., Nunnally C; Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, 8124 Highway 56, Chauvin, LA 70344, USA., Benfield MC; Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, College of the Coast and Environment, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Royal Society open science [R Soc Open Sci] 2019 Aug 28; Vol. 6 (8), pp. 191164. Date of Electronic Publication: 2019 Aug 28 (Print Publication: 2019).
DOI: 10.1098/rsos.191164
Abstrakt: The Deepwater Horizon spill is one of the largest environmental disasters with extensive impacts on the economic and ecological health of the Gulf of Mexico. Surface oil and coastal impacts received considerable attention, but the far larger oil spill in the deep ocean and its effects received considerably less examination. Based on 2017 ROV surveys within 500 m of the wellhead, we provide evidence of continued impacts on diversity, abundance and health of deep-sea megafauna. At locations proximal to the wellhead, megafaunal communities are more homogeneous than in unimpacted areas, lacking many taxonomic groups, and driven by high densities of arthropods. Degraded hydrocarbons at the site may be attracting arthropods. The scope of impacts may extend beyond the impacted sites with the potential for impacts to pelagic food webs and commercially important species. Overall, deep-sea ecosystem health, 7 years post spill, is recovering slowly and lingering effects may be extreme.
Competing Interests: We declare we have no competing interests.
(© 2019 The Authors.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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