Chen, Zelin and Cameron, Tom C and Couce, Elena and Garcia, Clement and Hicks, Natalie and Thomas, Gareth E and Thompson, Murray SA and Whitby, Corinne and O'Gorman, Eoin J (2024) Oil and gas platforms degrade benthic invertebrate diversity and food web structure. Science of the Total Environment, 929. p. 172536. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172536
Chen, Zelin and Cameron, Tom C and Couce, Elena and Garcia, Clement and Hicks, Natalie and Thomas, Gareth E and Thompson, Murray SA and Whitby, Corinne and O'Gorman, Eoin J (2024) Oil and gas platforms degrade benthic invertebrate diversity and food web structure. Science of the Total Environment, 929. p. 172536. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172536
Chen, Zelin and Cameron, Tom C and Couce, Elena and Garcia, Clement and Hicks, Natalie and Thomas, Gareth E and Thompson, Murray SA and Whitby, Corinne and O'Gorman, Eoin J (2024) Oil and gas platforms degrade benthic invertebrate diversity and food web structure. Science of the Total Environment, 929. p. 172536. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172536
Abstract
Oil and gas exploitation introduces toxic contaminants such as hydrocarbons and heavy metals to the surrounding sediment, resulting in deleterious impacts on marine benthic communities. This study combines benthic monitoring data over a 30-year period in the North Sea with dietary information on >1400 taxa to quantify the effects of active oil and gas platforms on benthic food webs using a multiple before-after control-impact experiment. Contamination from oil and gas platforms caused declines in benthic food web complexity, community abundance, and biodiversity. Fewer trophic interactions and increased connectance indicated that the community became dominated by generalists adapting to alternative resources, leading to simpler but more connected food webs in contaminated environments. Decreased mean body mass, shorter food chains, and the dominance of small detritivores such as Capitella capitata near to structures suggested a disproportionate loss of larger organisms from higher trophic levels. These patterns were associated with concentrations of hydrocarbons and heavy metals that exceed OSPAR's guideline thresholds of sediment toxicity. This study provides new evidence to better quantify and manage the environmental consequences of oil and gas exploitation at sea.
Item Type: | Article |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | Benthic communities; Marine food web; Trophic structure; Contamination; Man-made structure; Marine ecosystem; North Sea |
Divisions: | Faculty of Science and Health Faculty of Science and Health > Life Sciences, School of |
SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Date Deposited: | 06 Sep 2024 12:02 |
Last Modified: | 06 Sep 2024 12:02 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/38232 |
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