Thresholds in marsh resilience to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Ecosystem boundary retreat due to human-induced pressure is a generally observed phenomenon. However, studies that document thresholds beyond which internal resistance mechanisms are overwhelmed are uncommon. Following the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, field studies from a few sites suggested that oiling of salt marshes could lead to a biogeomorphic feedback where plant death resulted in increased marsh erosion. We tested for spatial generality of and thresholds in this effect across 103 salt marsh sites spanning ~430 kilometers of shoreline in coastal Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, using data collected as part of the natural resource damage assessment (NRDA). Our analyses revealed a threshold for oil impacts on marsh edge erosion, with higher erosion rates occurring for ~1-2 years after the spill at sites with the highest amounts of plant stem oiling (90-100%). These results provide compelling evidence showing large-scale ecosystem loss following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. More broadly, these findings provide rare empirical evidence identifying a geomorphologic threshold in the resistance of an ecosystem to increasing intensity of human-induced disturbance.
Division of Marine Science and Conservation, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA.
Brian R
BR
Silliman
Department of Statistics, Snedecor Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-1210, USA.
Philip M
PM
Dixon
Abt Associates, 1881 Ninth Street, Suite 201, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.
Cameron
C
Wobus
Division of Marine Science and Conservation, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA.
Qiang
Q
He
Division of Marine Science and Conservation, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA.|Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), UNMDP, CONICET, CC1260 Correo Central, B7600WAG, Mar del Plata, Argentina.
Pedro
P
Daleo
Division of Marine Science and Conservation, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA.|Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 96060, USA.
Brent B
BB
Hughes
Abt Associates, 1881 Ninth Street, Suite 201, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.
Matthew
M
Rissing
Institute for Coastal and Water Research, Department of Biology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA 70504, USA.
Jonathan M
JM
Willis
Institute for Coastal and Water Research, Department of Biology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA 70504, USA.
Mark W
MW
Hester
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