Macroinfauna responses and recovery trajectories after an oil spill differ from those following saltmarsh restoration

Fleeger, John W.; Johnson, David Samuel; Zengel, Scott; Mendelssohn, I. A.; Deis, Donald R.; Graham, Sean A.; Lin, Qinhao; Christman, Mary C.; Riggio, M.R.; Pant, Millie

doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.104881

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Diverse estuarine assemblages (e.g., microbes, plants, macroinvertebrates, and fishes) tend to be tolerant of severe environmental stress (Elliott & Whitfield, 2011; Stevens, 1989), such as oil spills (Able et al, 2015; Engel et al, 2017; Fleeger et al, 2020; Fodrie et al, 2014; Fodrie & Heck, 2011; McCann et al, 2017; Zengel et al, 2022) and hurricanes (Chen et al, 2020), although there can also be high and fast turnover of species and diversity in estuaries due to salinity gradients (Elliott & Whitfield, 2011; Watson & Byrne, 2009; Whitfield et al, 2012). Both LHA and LHB were located near Lake Hermitage and the Mississippi River, a region with lower salinity levels that experiences weaker storms coming from Barataria Bay and the Gulf of Mexico compared with other marshes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Microbial assemblage differences between created and reference marshes may alter basic ecosystem functions because microbes serve as food sources for higher trophic levels within the marsh food web, as well as play essential roles in biogeochemical processing and ecosystem development, including (but not limited to) organic carbon decomposition and recycling, nitrogen fixation, gas transport, sediment cohesion, establishing and maintaining redox conditions, and forming symbiotic associations with plants and other fauna (e.g., Abbott et al, 2022; Bodelier & Dedysh, 2013; Farrer et al, 2022). Similarly, macroinfauna are also an important element of marsh food webs because they regulate nutrient recycling, sedimentary processes via bioturbation, and serve as a source of energy to larger animals, among other processes (Adam, 1990; Fleeger et al, 2020). In this sense, differences in microbial and macrofauna assemblage structure and lower macroinfauna abundance may affect marsh functioning and propagate to other food web levels.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, additional investigations should consider potential sources of bias in our study. First, the study area was in the Mississippi River Delta, a region that has been historically influenced by fisheries (Grimes, 2001) and anthropogenic impacts, including high nutrient loads (Rabalais et al, 2002), regulation and channelization of the Mississippi River discharge (Day et al, 2007), and oil spills (Fleeger et al, 2020). In this sense, although the studied reference marshes formed naturally via vertical accretion controlled by inorganic sedimentation and biomass production and decomposition (FitzGerald & Hughes, 2019), they may not be considered completely pristine references.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Can biodiversity of preexisting and created salt marshes match across scales? An assessment from microbes to predators

et al. 2023

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Coastal wetlands are rapidly disappearing worldwide due to a variety of processes, including climate change and flood control. The rate of loss in the Mississippi River Delta is among the highest in the world and billions of dollars have been allocated to build and restore coastal wetlands. A key question guiding assessment is whether created coastal salt marshes have similar biodiversity to preexisting, reference marshes. However, the numerous biodiversity metrics used to make these determinations are typically scale dependent and often conflicting. Here, we applied ecological theory to compare the diversity of different assemblages (surface and below‐surface soil microbes, plants, macroinfauna, spiders, and on‐marsh and off‐marsh nekton) between two created marshes (4–6 years old) and four reference marshes. We also quantified the scale‐dependent effects of species abundance distribution, aggregation, and density on richness differences and explored differences in species composition. Total, between‐sample, and within‐sample diversity (γ, β, and α, respectively) were not consistently lower at created marshes. Richness decomposition varied greatly among assemblages and marshes (e.g., soil microbes showed high equitability and α diversity, but plant diversity was restricted to a few dominant species with high aggregation). However, species abundance distribution, aggregation, and density patterns were not directly associated with differences between created and reference marshes. One exception was considerably lower density for macroinfauna at one of the created marshes, which was drier because of being at a higher elevation and having coarser substrate compared with the other marshes. The community compositions of created marshes were more dissimilar than reference marshes for microbe and macroinfauna assemblages. However, differences were small, particularly for microbes. Together, our results suggest generally similar taxonomic diversity and composition between created and reference marshes. This provides support for the creation of marsh habitat as tools for the maintenance and restoration of coastal biodiversity. However, caution is needed when creating marshes because specific building and restoration plans may lead to different colonization patterns.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Can biodiversity of preexisting and created salt marshes match across scales? An assessment from microbes to predators

et al. 2023

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“…In heavily oiled salt marshes after the spill, a slow recovery of vegetation led to decreased plant cover over marsh soils that in turn allowed more light to reach the marsh surface [78]. This increased light stimulated benthic microalgae, increasing the food supply for benthic animals, which unexpectedly led to higher densities in heavily oiled compared to unoiled marshes [78,79]. Finally, interactions between chemical contaminants and climate change will likely reveal many indirect effects on contaminant dispersion and bioavailability as well as ecosystem function [80][81][82][83][84].…”

Section: Ecosystem Function/services and Indirect Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Do Indirect Effects of Contaminants Inform Ecotoxicology? A Review

Fleeger

2020

Processes

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Indirect effects in ecotoxicology are defined as chemical- or pollutant-induced alterations in the density or behavior of sensitive species that have cascading effects on tolerant species in natural systems. As a result, species interaction networks (e.g., interactions associated with predation or competition) may be altered in such a way as to bring about large changes in populations and/or communities that may further cascade to disrupt ecosystem function and services. Field studies and experimental outcomes as well as models indicate that indirect effects are most likely to occur in communities in which the strength of interactions and the sensitivity to contaminants differ markedly among species, and that indirect effects will vary over space and time as species composition, trophic structure, and environmental factors vary. However, knowledge of indirect effects is essential to improve understanding of the potential for chemical harm in natural systems. For example, indirect effects may confound laboratory-based ecological risk assessment by enhancing, masking, or spuriously indicating the direct effect of chemical contaminants. Progress to better anticipate and interpret the significance of indirect effects will be made as monitoring programs and long-term ecological research are conducted that facilitate critical experimental field and mesocosm investigations, and as chemical transport and fate models, individual-based direct effects models, and ecosystem/food web models continue to be improved and become better integrated.

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“…Salt marsh animal communities including both invertebrates and vertebrates were impacted by the spill (e.g., arthropods [ 25 ], tabanid flies [ 26 ], snails [ 27 ], fishes [ 5 , 28 ], birds [ 14 , 29 – 32 ]). Nonetheless, some plant and animal communities appeared to recover within 4–7 years following the DWH spill [ 33 – 35 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nest survival of Seaside Sparrows (Ammospiza maritima) in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

et al. 2021

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In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill released an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, damaging coastal ecosystems. Seaside Sparrows (Ammospiza maritima)—a year-round resident of Gulf Coast salt marshes—were exposed to oil, as shown by published isotopic and molecular analyses, but fitness consequences have not been clarified. We monitored nests around two bays in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, USA from 2012–2017 to assess possible impacts on the nesting biology of Seaside Sparrows. A majority of nests failed (76% of known-fate nests, N = 252 nests, 3521 exposure-days) during our study, and predation was the main cause of nest failure (~91% of failed nests). Logistic exposure analysis revealed that daily nest survival rate: (1) was greater at nests with denser vegetation at nest height, (2) was higher in the more sheltered bay we studied, (3) decreased over the course of the breeding season in each year, and (4) was not correlated with either sediment polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations or estimated predator abundance during the years for which we had those data. Although the Deepwater Horizon spill impacted other aspects of Seaside Sparrow ecology, we found no definitive effect of initial oiling or oiled sediment on nest survival during 2012–2017. Because predation was the overwhelming cause of nest failure in our study, additional work on these communities is needed to fully understand demographic and ecological impacts of storms, oil spills, other pollutants, and sea-level rise on Seaside Sparrows and their predators.

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Macroinfauna responses and recovery trajectories after an oil spill differ from those following saltmarsh restoration

Cited by 11 publications

References 77 publications

Can biodiversity of preexisting and created salt marshes match across scales? An assessment from microbes to predators

Can biodiversity of preexisting and created salt marshes match across scales? An assessment from microbes to predators

How Do Indirect Effects of Contaminants Inform Ecotoxicology? A Review

Nest survival of Seaside Sparrows (Ammospiza maritima) in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

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