Functional Diversity for the Impact Assessment of Offshore Oil & Gas Activities â€“ An Exploratory Study on Benthic Prokaryotes
Offshore oil and gas (O&G) operations can influence the health of seafloor ecosystems, yet their effects on microbial life in marine sediments are still not fully understood. Microorganisms play essential roles in nutrient cycling, carbon processing, and the natural breakdown of pollutants, making them important indicators of environmental change. This study examines how microbial communities respond to O&G activity by analyzing sediments collected around one selected installation on the Norwegian continental shelf. Samples were taken from nine stations representing a gradient of contamination by hydrocarbons and metals. DNA and RNA were extracted from surface sediments to generate metagenomic and metatranscriptomic datasets, providing information on both the genetic potential of the microbial communities and the functions they actively express. These datasets offer a comprehensive view of how offshore O&G activities shape the diversity and functional capabilities of sediment microbiomes. They provide a valuable foundation for developing microbial indicators and improving ecosystem-based approaches to environmental monitoring in marine industrial areas.