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Scenarios and Responses to Future Deep Oil Spills pp 96–108Cite as

Benthic Faunal Baselines in the Gulf of Mexico: A Precursor to Evaluate Future Impacts

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Abstract

This chapter provides a comparison between recently developed, post-oil spill baseline measurements throughout the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and previous, pre-oil spill baselines for benthic foraminifera, meiofauna, and macrofauna for areas impacted by the Deepwater Horizon (2010) and Ixtoc 1 (1979–1980) oil spills. This comparison will provide two primary outcomes: (1) assessment of any lasting changes in benthic faunal assemblages caused by the Deepwater Horizon and Ixtoc 1 oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico and (2) augmentation of pre-oil spill baselines or establishment of “new normal” post-oil spill baseline measurements that can be utilized to quantitatively assess impact, response, and recovery of benthic fauna in the event of a future oil spill.

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Acknowledgments

This research was made possible in part by a grant from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, C-IMAGE and DEEP-C, and in part by the British Petroleum/Florida Institute of Oceanography (BP/FIO)-Gulf Oil Spill Prevention, Response, and Recovery Grants Program. The authors also thank Bryan O’Malley for his assistance with laboratory analyses. Data are publicly available through the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC) at http://data.gulfresearchinitiative.org, UDI: R6.x805.000:0061, R6.x805.000:0062, DOI: 10.7266/n7-q3gc-ax92, DOI: 10.7266/n7-e90r-1v29, DOI: 10.7266/n7-repn-q515.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, St. Petersburg, FL, USA

    Patrick T. Schwing

  2. Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Corpus Christi, TX, USA

    Paul A. Montagna & Melissa Rohal

  3. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Mexico City, Mexico

    Maria Luisa Machain-Castillo & Elva Escobar-Briones

Authors
  1. Patrick T. Schwing
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  2. Paul A. Montagna
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  3. Maria Luisa Machain-Castillo
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  4. Elva Escobar-Briones
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  5. Melissa Rohal
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patrick T. Schwing .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL, USA

    Steven A. Murawski

  2. College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL, USA

    Cameron H. Ainsworth

  3. College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL, USA

    Sherryl Gilbert

  4. College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL, USA

    David J. Hollander

  5. Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    Claire B. Paris

  6. Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany

    Michael Schlüter

  7. Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, FL, USA

    Dana L. Wetzel

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Schwing, P.T., Montagna, P.A., Machain-Castillo, M.L., Escobar-Briones, E., Rohal, M. (2020). Benthic Faunal Baselines in the Gulf of Mexico: A Precursor to Evaluate Future Impacts. In: Murawski, S., et al. Scenarios and Responses to Future Deep Oil Spills. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12963-7_6

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