Relationship between oil pollution and psammolittoral meiofauna density of two South African beaches

Meiofauna as a Tool for Marine Ecosystem Biomonitoring

“…Variable responses in terms of nematode abundance after oil contamination have been reported in the relevant literature: abundance may be relatively unaffected (Boucher, 1980;Elmgren et al, 1983;Fricke et al, 1981;Gee et al, 1992), or, in contrast, can significantly fall (Beyrem et al, 2010;Carman et al, 1995;Danovaro et al, 1995Danovaro et al, , 1999Elmgren et al, 1980;Giere, 1979;Mahmoudi et al, 2002Mahmoudi et al, , 2005. The phenomenon of rapid recovery is present only in some cases (Fig.…”

Meiofauna responses to an experimental oil spill in a Louisiana salt marsh

“…In beaches and intertidal settings, nematodes appear to be relatively insensitive to all but very heavily oiled conditions (Boucher, 1980;Elmgren et al, 1980;Bonsdorf, 1981;Fricke et al, 1981); if affected at all, they seem to recover rapidly (Wormald, 1976;Giere, 1979). Copepods have been reported to be severely impacted by some spills (Boucher, 1980;Bonsdorf, 1981;Fricke et al 1981), and to recover more slowly than nematodes (Wormald, 1976). Naidu et al (1978), however, report an increase in copepod density in experimentally oiled sites in an Alaskan mudflat.…”

Community response of deep-sea soft-sediment metazoan meiofauna to the Deepwater Horizon blowout and oil spill

“…Nematodes and harpacticoid copepods, the 2 dominant meiofauna taxa, have been particularly useful as bioindicators at population (Platt et al 1984, Stacey & Marcotte 1987, Coull & Chandler 1992, Somerfield & Clarke 1995, Schratzberger & Warwick 1998, Bejarano et al 2006, Höss et al 2011, Moreno et al 2011, Bevilacqua et al 2012) and community levels (Wormald 1976, Fricke et al 1981, Fleeger & Chandler 1983, Danovaro et al 1995. However, attaining a high level of taxonomic resolution with these or other meiofaunal taxa can be a laborious task.…”

“…Despite the limitations of N:C, its potential value as a tool for biomonitoring pollution events has been recognized in field and mesocosm studies (Marcotte & Coull 1974, Fricke et al 1981, Amjad & Gray 1983, Gee et al 1985, Sandulli & Giudici 1989, Kennicutt et al 1996, Sutherland et al 2007, Wang et al 2011, Riera et al 2012). More recently, and arguably more relevant to the present study, the N:C has worked well to classify impacts of drilling activities in the Gulf of Mexico (Montagna & Harper 1996).…”

“…Despite interactions with sediment properties, seasonality, or various other environmental conditions, meiobenthic copepods have been useful indicators of oil pollution or drilling-related impacts (Giere 1979, Fricke et al 1981, Elmgren et al 1983, Montagna & Harper 1996, Ansari & Ingole 2002. Studies of PAH toxicity on harpacticoid copepods have revealed negative effects on reproductive output (Bejarano et al 2006) and development (Bang et al 2009).…”