title: Community responses of intertidal soft-bottom macrozoobenthos to oil pollution in a tropical mangrove ecosystem, Niger Delta, Nigeria.
abstract: Preliminary impact assessment of two large oil spill incidents at Bodo Creek, in the Niger Delta, was undertaken, focusing on intertidal macrozoobenthos. Post-spill number of species and abundance were measured against recent pre-spill baseline data from the same study area. Results show that surface and infauna communities suffered severe reduction in abundance and number of species reduced by 81% after the spills, with two of the resampled sites having no taxa at all. Capitella capitata populations increased several-fold over pre-spill numbers. The impact of the oil spills is discussed in relation to local livelihoods and ecosystem integrity. The Niger Delta endemic lucinid, Keletistes rhizoecus, is proposed as a potential bioindicator for monitoring hydrocarbon contamination in Niger Delta estuaries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science and Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Port Harcourt, Choba PMB 5323, Rivers State, Nigeria. Electronic address: nenibarini.zabbey@uniport.edu.ng.
authors.forename: Nenibarini
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zabbey
authors.affiliation: Institute for Pollution Studies (IPS), Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), Port Harcourt PMB 5080, Rivers State, Nigeria. Electronic address: uyihansylva@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Hanson
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Uyi
mesh_terms: D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000187:drug effects*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D009549:Nigeria; D010578:Petroleum / Q000633:toxicity*; D059392:Petroleum Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*; D053833:Wetlands
chemical_list: D010578:Petroleum; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Community; Indicators; Infauna; Oil pollution; Recovery