Survey of marine communities in Panama and experiments with oil

Open Access

Abstract

Baseline surveys were conducted on both the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Panama. The structure of macroinvertebrate communities along the Caribbean transect are presented from data collected for over 500 identified species in 108 samples including a total of over 50,000 specimens. Recruitment to benthic communities was investigated with settling plates. The Caribbean was found to be seasonal in species occurrence while the Pacific was seasonal in productivity. The effects of oil pollution on tropical intertidal marine communities were tested by precisely controlled experiments utilizing tarry Bunker C and volatile marine diesel oils. Field experiments were performed on a Caribbean intertidal reef flat community, a Pacific rocky shore community, settling plates in both oceans, mangrove trees sprayed with oil on the leaves and/or stilt roots and on coral growth. Bunker C oil had a greater detrimental effect than did marine diesel oil on coral growth. Marine diesel oil had a greater detrimental effect than did Bunker C oil on fouling communities of settling plates. When comparing experimentals with controls, growth rates were used as an indicator of the presence of unobserved physiological stress or damage and a quantitative index of the cost of repair. Susceptibility to oil pollution varied significantlymore » between individuals. The growth rates of corals differed significantly with location and time of year so that very precise controls were required in the experiments.« less

Keywords

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: