Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Jackson, J. B. C.
• Cubit, J. D.
• Keller, B. D.
• Batista, V.
• Burns, K.
• Caffey, H. M.
• Caldwell, R. L.
• Garrity, S. D.
• Getter, C. D.
• Gonzalez, C.
• Guzman, H. M.
• Kaufmann, K. W.
• Knap, A. H.
• Levings, S. C.
• Marshall, M. J.
• Steger, R.
• Thompson, R. C.
• Weil, E.

Titel

Ecological Effects of a Major Oil Spill on Panamanian Coastal Marine Communities

Ist Teil von

• Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), 1989-01, Vol.243 (4887), p.37-44

Ort / Verlag

Washington, DC: The American Association for the Advancement of Science

Erscheinungsjahr

1989

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• In 1986 more than 8 million liters of crude oil spilled into a complex region of mangroves, seagrasses, and coral reefs just east of the Caribbean entrance to the Panama Canal. This was the largest recorded spill into coastal habitats in the tropical Americas. Many populations of plants and animals in both oiled and unoiled sites had been studied previously, thereby providing an unprecedented measure of ecological variation before the spill. Documentation of the spread of oil and its biological effects begun immediately. Intertidal mangroves, seagrasses, algae, and associated invertebrates were covered by oil and died soon after. More surprisingly, there was also extensive mortality of shallow subtidal reef corals and infauna of seagrass beds. After 1.5 years only some organisms in areas exposed to the open sea have recovered.