title: Status of intertidal infaunal communities following the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska.
abstract: Intertidal infaunal communities were sampled in Prince William Sound, Alaska from 1990-2000 to evaluate impacts and recovery from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Initial findings suggested that the spill and cleanup depressed abundances of all taxonomic groups. By 1992, abundances of major taxonomic categories at disturbed sites had either converged or paralleled populations at Unoiled sites. Abundances of littleneck clams, Leukoma (Protothaca) staminea, slowly increased at Treated sites and converged with Unoiled sites by 2000. Infaunal population differences positively correlated with fine-grained sediments at Treated sites. We believe that sediment fines removal during cleanup, and subsequent slow natural replenishment, impeded the return of the environment to pre-spill conditions. This suggests physical recovery of spill-affected beaches is an important precursor to biological recovery.
authors.affiliation: Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Biological Resources Division, US Geological Survey, School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences, University of Washington, P.O. Box 355020, Seattle, WA 98195-5020, USA. Electronic address: akfukuyama@frontier.com.
authors.forename: Allan K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Fukuyama
authors.affiliation: NOAA/Office of Response and Restoration, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115, USA.
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shigenaka
authors.affiliation: Marine Research Specialists, 3140 Telegraph Rd., Ste A, Ventura, CA 93003, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Coats
mesh_terms: D000413:Alaska; D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D010578:Petroleum / Q000032:analysis*; D059392:Petroleum Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D011157:Population Dynamics
chemical_list: D010578:Petroleum
keywords: Convergence; Exxon Valdez; Infauna; Leukoma (Protothaca) staminea; Parallelism; Recolonization