title: Initial impacts of the Hebei Spirit oil spill on the sandy beach macrobenthic community west coast of Korea.
abstract: Petroleum hydrocarbon contamination and macrobenthos in the sandy tidal flats of Taean were monitored for 1 year to assess the impacts of Hebei Spirit oil on the macrobenthic community. A total of 207 macrobenthic fauna was collected, and the mean density and biomass of macrobenthic fauna continued to decrease until 12 months after the oil spill, but macrobenthic density at the most heavily affected sites increased by about twofold. In January 2008, the dominant species occurred at very low densities in strongly affected sites. The macrobenthic communities differed between oil-affected and unaffected sites. In particular, differences in community structure at Mallipo beach were larger than those at Shinduri. We suggest that long-term monitoring is needed to assess the specific effects of oil pollution on the sandy intertidal macrobenthic community.
authors.affiliation: Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology, 787 Haeanro, Ansan 426-744, Republic of Korea. ohyu@kiost.ac
authors.forename: Ok Hwan
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Hyung-Gon
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Won Joon
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: Moonkoo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Heung Sik
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development*; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development*; D010578:Petroleum / Q000032:analysis*; D059392:Petroleum Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D010578:Petroleum; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical