@article{4889cb3de4e74ebea86fc6d06b65178f,
title = "Coral communities as indicators of ecosystem-level impacts of the deepwater horizon spill",
abstract = "The Macondo oil spill released massive quantities of oil and gas from a depth of 1500 meters. Although a buoyant plume carried released hydrocarbons to the sea surface, as much as half stayed in the water column and much of that in the deep sea. After the hydrocarbons reached the surface, weathering processes, burning, and the use of a dispersant caused hydrocarbon-rich marine snow to sink into the deep sea. As a result, this spill had a greater potential to affect deep-sea communities than had any previous spill. Here, we review the literature on impacts on deep-sea communities from the Macondo blowout and provide additional data on sediment hydrocarbon loads and the impacts on sediment infauna in areas with coral communities around the Macondo well. We review the literature on the genetic connectivity of deep-sea species in the Gulf of Mexico and discuss the potential for wider effects on deep Gulf coral communities.",
author = "Fisher, {Charles R.} and Demopoulos, {Amanda W J} and Cordes, {Erik E.} and Baums, {Iliana B.} and White, {Helen K.} and Bourque, {Jill R.}",
note = "Funding Information: Funding for CRF, EEC, and IBB was provided by BOEM contract no. M08PC20038, awarded to TDI-Brooks International, and that for AWJD was provided by the US Geological Survey for the Lophelia II project, with ship and remotely operated vehicle support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Exploration and Research. Additional research and ship support was provided by National Science Foundation Grants for Rapid Response Research no. OCE-1045083 and no. OCE-1064041 to CRF, no. OCE-1045079 to EEC, and no. OCE-1045131 to HKW; by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) to the Ecosystem Impacts of Oil and Gas Inputs to the Gulf (ECOGIG) consortium for CRF, EEC, and IBB; a BP/GoMRI grant to HKW; by the Assessment and Restoration Division of NOAA; and by NOAA and BP as part of the Macondo blowout Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA). We thank the crew and captains of the R/V Atlantis, the R/V Holiday Chouest, and the pilots and crew of DSV Alvin. In addition, special thanks go to Jenine Abbassi, Elizabeth K. Coward, Miles Saunders, Lindsay N. Ryan, Jennifer McClain-Counts, Janessy Frometa, Katherine Stamler, and William Jenkins. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US government. The data used in this article are accessible through the GoMRI Information and Data Cooperative projects no. R1.x132.136:0008 and no. R1. x132.136:0020 (coral surveys) and no. R2.x229.000:0003 (hydrocarbon data) and the NRDA Web site (www.gulfspill-restoration.noaa.gov/oil-spill/gulf-spill-data) at the following links: http://54.243.205.138/gulfspillrestoration/qmmatrix/ Sediment_chem_export.zip and http://54.243.205.138/gulf-spillrestoration/qmmatrix/Subsurface_Sediment_chem_ export.zip. This is ECOGIG contribution no. 196. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2014 The Author(s).",
year = "2014",
month = sep,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1093/biosci/biu129",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "64",
pages = "796--807",
journal = "BioScience",
issn = "0006-3568",
publisher = "American Institute of Biological Sciences",
number = "9",
}
