Long-Term Signal of Disturbance: Fucus gardneri after the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

Abstract

We followed long-term dynamics of a conspicuous intertidal brown alga, Fucus gardneri, for seven years after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) in Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA. We compared percent cover of Fucus over time at sites that had been oiled, some of which were washed with high-pressure hot water, relative to sites that had experienced neither oil nor cleanup activities (reference sites). Fucus cover at spill-disturbed sites was initially reduced due to toxic effects of oil and cleanup but rapidly increased to above normal levels and then subsequently dropped in 1994-1995. The changes in cover at spill-disturbed sites were dramatic (Ն50% decline year-to-year) and synchronous across all quadrats at a site. In contrast, reference sites demonstrated little synchrony. We examined two possible mechanisms that could generate synchronous fluctuations at spilldisturbed sites, i.e., (1) plant-herbivore coupling, in which limpet or snail grazing would reduce Fucus populations (hypothesis tested by analyzing abundances from 1990 to 1996), and (2) a single cohort of Fucus recruiting soon after the spill that would monopolize space for several years before declining synchronously (hypothesis tested by analyzing size frequency in 1996). We found no evidence for the first mechanism but support for the latter. The persistent patterns in size structure and dynamics in Fucus after EVOS suggest that full recovery had not occurred by 1996, even though Fucus cover at spill-disturbed sites was similar to reference areas within a few years of the spill.

Consequences of large-scale salinity alteration during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on subtidal oyster populations

“…In many cases, postspill assessments of injury have indicated large impacts from the response activities (e.g. high pressure washing of the rocky intertidal during the 'Exxon Valdez' oil spill cleanup, see Driskell et al 2001). The geographic extent (1000s of km of potentially impacted beaches and marshes) and duration (87 d of oil release) of the DWH oil spill necessitated unprecedented response and clean-up activities.…”

Distribution and Genetic Structure of Fucus distichus Linnaeus 1953 (formerly F. gardneri) within Central San Francisco Bay

“…The persistent negative effects of oil spill clean-up actions on F. distichus have been documented at other locations (Hoff and Shigenaka 1999;Kimura and Steinbeck 1999). After the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska, and subsequent cleanup actions, F. distichus was slow to recover, which in turn stimulated an interest in actively re-establishing the rockweed at damaged sites (De Vogelaere and Foster 1994;Stekoll and Deysher 1996;Driskell et al 2001 …”

Long term effects of Ascophyllum nodosum canopy removal on mid shore community structure

“…Canopy algae alter the physical environment at the substratum through the lowering of light levels, amelioration of physical extremes, reduction of water movement and by the physical abrasion of sweeping algal fronds (see Jenkins et al, 1999). Thus, it has not been possible to determine the long-term implications of canopy loss (but see Driskell et al, 2001 for recovery of Fucus gardneri over a seven year period). Thus, it has not been possible to determine the long-term implications of canopy loss (but see Driskell et al, 2001 for recovery of Fucus gardneri over a seven year period).…”