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Temporal changes in community structure of tide pools following the “Erika” oil spill

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 October 2004

Anne-Laure Barillé-Boyer ,
Yves Gruet ,
Laurent Barillé  and
Nicolas Harin
Anne-Laure Barillé-Boyer
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Biologie Marine, ISOMER, UPRES EA 2663
Yves Gruet
Affiliation:
Département des Sciences de la Vie et de la Terre, Faculté des Sciences et des Techniques, 2 rue de la Houssinière, BP 92208, 44322 Nantes Cedex 3, France
Laurent Barillé
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Biologie Marine, ISOMER, UPRES EA 2663
Nicolas Harin
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Biologie Marine, ISOMER, UPRES EA 2663
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Abstract

The impact of the “Erika” oil spill on the tidal rock pool community, and particularly on two species of sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus and Psammechinus miliaris), was investigated over a 3-year period, at Piriac-sur-Mer (Department of Loire-Atlantique, France, 47°21.6' N; 2°31.7' W). A dramatic increase in the abundance of two macroalgae Ulva sp. and Grateloupia doryphora occurred following a 100% mortality of sea urchins observed three weeks after the oil spill. The density of sea urchins and of other main herbivores, the periwinkle Littorina littorea and the trochid mollusks Gibbula umbilicalis and Gibbula pennantii, were monitored between January 2000 and March 2003. There was significant inverse relationship between the overall density of herbivores (sea urchins, periwinkles and trochid mollusks) and the percent cover of algae in the tidal pools. The first urchins in the tidal pools were observed two years after the oil spill and it took three years to reach sea urchin densities comparable to the reference value of 63 ind.m−2 obtained before the oil spill.

Keywords

Oil spillSeaweedGrateloupia doryphoraEchinodermParacentrotus lividus / Psammechinus miliaris
Type
Research Article
Information
Aquatic Living Resources , Volume 17 , Issue 3: The "Erika" Oil Spill: Environmental Contamination and Effects in the Bay of Biscay , July 2004 , pp. 323 - 328
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, IFREMER, IRD, 2004

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