Abstract
The effect of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on Galician sandy beach ecosystems, six months after the Prestige oil spill, was evaluated using the meiobenthos at a higher taxon level as an indicator. Meiobenthos community structure, environmental variables and sediment PAH content from six affected exposed beaches were studied and compared with three reference sites. They were also compared with data from polluted beaches obtained during the first days of the spill. Significant amounts of PAHs were found in affected beach sediments and both univariate and multivariate analyses showed differences between affected and reference beaches. Correlation analyses between PAH content and the meiobenthos community structure showed that 1,2-dimethylnaphthalene (C2-NAPH) and 1-methylphenanthrene (C-PHEN) affected both the community structure and the abundance of the main taxa. These two PAHs seem to be responsible for the low meiofauna density values, which suggests that there is a relationship between the oil spill and the differences between affected and reference localities.
Highlights
Biogenic and petrogenic hydrocarbons are the result of the slow decay of the animals and algae from plankton, so they must be considered part of the marine environment (Kingston, 2002)
Altar (REF A) is an exposed beach situated in the outer part of the Ría de Foz; while the other two reference localities are exposed beaches located at the Ría de O Barqueiro: Xilloi (REF B) and Vidrieiro (REF C)
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with values over the effects range-low (ERL) or effects rangemedium (ERM) and those that were correlated with the meiobenthic community structure are shown
Summary
Biogenic and petrogenic hydrocarbons are the result of the slow decay of the animals and algae from plankton, so they must be considered part of the marine environment (Kingston, 2002). Suchanek (1993) estimated that only 8% of the annual oil input to the oceans is derived from these natural sources. The same author noted that the main anthropogenic sources of oil in the ocean were: runoff and municipal and industrial wastes (36%), oil released during tanker operational discharges (22%) and accidental or deliberate tanker spills (12%). Even if oil spills are not the main source of hydrocarbons in coastal areas, they attract high-profile coverage in the news media, and their effects on ecosystems have been widely studied, especially in intertidal areas After the Amoco Cadiz oil spill Bodin (1988) documented two different phases at 3 intertidal beaches on the French Atlantic coast. The first phase corresponds to an acute toxicity with severe reduction in density and diversity of the main meiofauna taxa, followed by a recovery phase at the end of which these taxa reach density and diversity values similar to those before the spill
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