Meta‐analysis of salt marsh vegetation impacts and recovery: a synthesis following the <i>Deepwater Horizon</i> oil spill

Zengel, Scott; Weaver, Jennifer; Mendelssohn, Irving A.; Graham, Sean A.; Lin, Qinhao; Hester, Mark W.; Willis, Jonathan M.; Silliman, Brian R.; Fleeger, John W.; McClenachan, Giovanna; Rabalais, Nancy N.; Turner, R. Eugene; Hughes, Andrew J.; Cebrián, Just; Deis, Donald R.; Rutherford, Nicolle; Roberts, Brian J.

doi:10.1002/eap.2489

Cited by 21 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 74 publications

(271 reference statements)

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“…Oil pollution is known to impact soil properties and the food web, ranging from soil organisms, plants, invertebrates, to vertebrates that are dependent on the marsh for feeding and nursery areas (Teal & Howarth, 1984). Environmental impacts of the DHOS and subsequent cleanup efforts were extensive, damaging vegetation (Hester et al, 2016;Lin & Mendelssohn, 2012;Zengel et al, 2022), vertebrate (Rabalais & Turner, 2016), and invertebrate communities (Fleeger et al, 2015(Fleeger et al, , 2018 in the coastal and marine ecosystems (Silliman et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Was the decline of saltmarsh tabanid populations after the 2010 oil spill associated with change in the larval food web?

2022

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Horse flies of the species Tabanus nigrovittatus and Tabanus acutus are native to coastal marshlands. Their larvae are apex invertebrate predators, and their development is dependent on the food web in the marsh sediment. Surveillance of T. nigrovittatus after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico showed population crashes of adult flies in southeast Louisiana marshes near oil landfall, but not in southwest Louisiana where oil did not reach. Sediment collection in 2011 from Louisiana marshes showed a near‐complete absence of larvae in the southeast yet high numbers in the southwest. We hypothesized that oil contamination destroyed critical components of the larval food web and/or residual toxicity led to larval death. We used 18S rRNA gene metagenomics to identify components of the food web in larval guts and sediment from southeast and southwest Louisiana marshes. Sediment oil contamination, biochemistry, and toxicity could not explain the lack of larvae in the southeast, because oiling at our high‐tide mark sites was low at the time of the study and toxicity was independent of sediment biochemistry. Hexapods were the main food web components in tabanid larval guts. Abundance of stink bug, vinegar fly, and mosquito species in the sediment was positively associated with the presence of larvae. However, these taxa were enriched in southeastern (near oil) versus southwestern (unoiled reference) sediment, and thus, lack of major food web components due to oiling could not explain lack of larva in the east. We conclude that the immediate crash in adult populations in oiled regions was the main cause for the absence of larvae the following year. While most saltmarsh arthropod groups had rebounded within a year after the oil spill, recovery of saltmarsh horse flies was ongoing for 5 years.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Was the decline of saltmarsh tabanid populations after the 2010 oil spill associated with change in the larval food web?

2022

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“…Belowground plant biomass was likely also reduced, although this was not measured in our study. However, belowground biomass was reduced in similarly oiled sites in studies by others 5 , 9 , 14 , 24 . Significant relationships have been established between marsh belowground biomass and soil shear strength (a measure of erosion potential) 25 , including in oiled marshes 9 , and belowground biomass is the main vegetation trait that resists erosion in coastal marshes 26 .…”

Section: Oiled Marsh Erosion and Soil Shear Strength Field-based Cont...mentioning

confidence: 76%

Accelerated marsh erosion following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill confirmed, ameliorated by planting

Zengel¹,

Nixon²,

Weaver³

et al. 2022

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Multiple studies have examined the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on coastal marsh shoreline erosion. Most studies have concluded that the spill increased shoreline erosion (linear retreat) in oiled marshes by ~ 100–200% for at least 2–3 years. However, two studies have called much of this prior research into question, due to potential study design flaws and confounding factors, primarily tropical cyclone influences and differential wave exposure between oiled (impact) and unoiled (reference) sites. Here we confirm that marsh erosion in our field experiment was substantially increased (112–233%) for 2 years in heavily oiled marsh after the spill, likely due to vegetation impacts and reduced soil shear strength attributed to the spill, rather than the influences of hurricanes or wave exposure variation. We discuss how our findings reinforce prior studies, including a wider-scale remote sensing analysis with similar study approach. We also show differences in the degree of erosion among oil spill cleanup treatments. Most importantly, we show that marsh restoration planting can drastically reduce oiled marsh erosion, and that the positive influences of planting can extend beyond the immediate impact of the spill.

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“…Spatial aggregation was important for plants, as our quadrat‐based assessments revealed dominance by a single or few plant species. Plant distribution is tightly controlled by salt marsh zonation due to physical conditions and stress (e.g., inundation, temperature, salinity, nutrient availability) and interspecific competition (Emery et al, 2001; Hill & Roberts, 2017; Zengel et al, 2022). Conversely, macroinfauna and on‐marsh nekton had important components associated with density.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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Meta‐analysis of salt marsh vegetation impacts and recovery: a synthesis following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Cited by 21 publications

References 74 publications

Was the decline of saltmarsh tabanid populations after the 2010 oil spill associated with change in the larval food web?

Was the decline of saltmarsh tabanid populations after the 2010 oil spill associated with change in the larval food web?

Accelerated marsh erosion following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill confirmed, ameliorated by planting

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

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