Vegetation Impact and Recovery from Oil-Induced Stress on Three Ecologically Distinct Wetland Sites in the Gulf of Mexico

Shapiro, Kristen D.; Khanna, Shruti; Ustin, Susan L.

doi:10.3390/jmse4020033

Cited by 19 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Injury was estimated to occur over at least 563 km (350 miles) of shoreline in Louisiana mainland herbaceous salt marsh alone, based on the extent of observed shoreline and plant oiling conditions (Nixon et al , 2016 and the findings of injury to oiled mainland herbaceous plants (Hester et al 2016). NRDA findings of injury to wetland vegetation cover, photosynthesis, and biomass, particularly along the marsh edge (Table 1), were consistent with those found by other researchers (Lin & Mendelssohn 2012, Mishra et al 2012, Wu et al 2012, Khanna et al 2013, Shapiro et al 2016. Plant stem oiling (where oiling occurred over more than 90% of the length of the stem), soil and shoreline oiling, associated response actions, and loss of nearshore oyster cover (Gibeaut et al 2015, Roman 2015, Silliman et al 2016, Powers et al 2017.…”

supporting

confidence: 81%

Integrated effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on nearshore ecosystems

Baker¹,

Steinhoff²,

Fricano³

2017

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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The interconnected nearshore habitats of the northern Gulf of Mexico provide refuge and feeding opportunities for fish and wildlife, including open water, shoreline, and terrestrial species. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill natural resource damage assessment documented injury as a result of the oiling of over 2113 km (1300 miles) of shoreline over an 87 d release from the wellhead. Field and laboratory studies indicate that oil degraded the health of coastal marsh vegetation and associated fauna, resulted in the loss of nearshore oyster cover, and increased erosion of oiled marsh edge habitat over approximately 174 km (108 miles) of shoreline. Sand beach habitat, submersed aquatic vegetation, and subtidal oysters were injured by a combination of oiling and response actions. The loss of billions of oysters resulted in failed recruitment over several years in the most severely affected areas (Barataria Bay, Black Bay/Breton Sound, and Mississippi Sound). Affected ecosystem services include supporting services (e.g. primary production) and provisioning services (e.g. fish and invertebrate abundance). Loss of vegetation and nearshore oysters and increased shoreline erosion may have disrupted regulating services associated with stable marsh (e.g. coastal storm and flood protection). The loss of marsh vegetation and oysters likely reduced nutrient cycling and water filtration services. Recovery of natural resources may take more than 20 yr in some areas. To prepare for future spills, we recommend that natural resource trustees develop generic conceptual models and prepare integrated injury assessment approaches for nearshore habitats to facilitate future injury quantification. Additional exploration of the trade-offs between response options could minimize or shift natural resource injury for future spills.

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supporting

confidence: 81%

Integrated effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on nearshore ecosystems

Baker¹,

Steinhoff²,

Fricano³

2017

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…, Shapiro et al. ). As a result of these detrimental effects, oil exposure can reduce vegetation cover and destabilize the soil due to the loss of living tissue belowground (Shapiro et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result of these detrimental effects, oil exposure can reduce vegetation cover and destabilize the soil due to the loss of living tissue belowground (Shapiro et al. ). However, marsh response to and recovery from oil spills can vary greatly (Mendelssohn et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of oil exposure, plant species composition, and plant genotypic diversity on salt marsh and mangrove assemblages

et al. 2018

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2018. Effects of oil exposure, plant species composition, and plant genotypic diversity on salt marsh and mangrove assemblages. Ecosphere 9(4):Abstract. Climate change is causing shifts in the distribution and abundance of many species.Because species vary in the rate and degree of these shifts, novel transition zones have developed where new combinations of species overlap. If climate-mediated range shifts result in greater diversity, transition communities could have enhanced resistance and/or resilience, particularly if the resident and colonizing species differ in their response to environmental change. The range expansion of the tropical black mangrove, Avicennia germinans, into salt marshes dominated by the temperate cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora, provides an opportunity to examine the responses of climate-mediated transition zones to disturbance. We conducted a yearlong mesocosm experiment testing the effects of plant species identity and composition (A. germinans, S. alterniflora), as well as plant genotypic diversity (S. alterniflora only), on the response of coastal wetlands to oiling disturbance. Oil negatively impacted S. alterniflora and A. germinans both above-and belowground, though the timing of these effects varied, with S. alterniflora showing more immediate declines than A. germinans. As hypothesized, the magnitude of the oil effect was reduced in the mixed plant species treatment compared to the single species treatment for A. germinans survival (12% vs. 21% reduction) and belowground biomass (19% vs. 71% reduction). In addition, when exposed to oil, A. germinans crown area and volume were greater in the mixed species treatment compared to the single species treatment at the end of the experiment. However, we did not detect any benefit of mixed species communities or S. alterniflora genotypic diversity for the S. alterniflora response to oil. Our results suggest that transition habitats in the northern Gulf of Mexico where A. germinans and S. alterniflora co-occur will be negatively impacted by future oiling events, but that they are no more susceptible, and perhaps slightly less so, than habitats dominated by either individual species.

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“…Ship groundings and collisions with large oil spills caused massive environmental damage [3]. The tragic incident in April 2010 with the offshore drilling platform Macondo illustrates the dramatic effect of losing control of a subsea oil well, in terms of the natural environment [4,5], loss of human lives, and impact on the wider society [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Level of Automation in Emergency Quick Disconnect Decision Making

Imset

Falk

Kjørstad

et al. 2018

JMSE

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As a key measure for safety and environmental protection during offshore well operations, drill rigs are equipped with Emergency Quick Disconnect (EQD) systems. However, an EQD operation is in itself considered a risky operation with a major economic impact. For this reason, it is of great importance to aid the operators in their assessment of the situation at all times, and help them make the best decisions. However, despite the availability of such systems, accidents do happen. This demonstrates the vulnerability of our human decision-making capabilities in extremely stressful situations. One way of improving the overall human-system performance with respect to EQD is to increase the level and quality of the automation and decision support systems. Although there is plenty of evidence that automated systems have weaknesses, there is also evidence that advanced software systems outperform humans in complex decision-making. The major challenge is to make sure that EQD is performed when necessary, but there is also a need to decrease the number of false EQDs. This paper applies an existing framework for levels of automation in order to explore the critical decision process leading to an EQD. We provide an overview of the benefits and drawbacks of existing automation and decision support systems vs. manual human decision-making. Data are collected from interviews of offshore users, suppliers, and oil companies, as well as from formal operational procedures. Findings are discussed using an established framework for the level of automation. Our conclusion is that there is an appropriate level of automation in critical situations related to the loss of the position of the drill rig, and that there is the promising potential to increase the autonomy level in a mid-and long-term situation assessment.

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Vegetation Impact and Recovery from Oil-Induced Stress on Three Ecologically Distinct Wetland Sites in the Gulf of Mexico

Cited by 19 publications

References 47 publications

Integrated effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on nearshore ecosystems

Integrated effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on nearshore ecosystems

Effects of oil exposure, plant species composition, and plant genotypic diversity on salt marsh and mangrove assemblages

The Level of Automation in Emergency Quick Disconnect Decision Making

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