Spatial and temporal comparisons of salt marsh soil fungal communities following the deepwater horizon spill

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-1-2022

Abstract

The unprecedented size of the deepwater horizon oil spill and scope of the subsequent response elicited intense and sustained interest in microbial responses to oiling, especially in salt marshes, which have featured prominently in debates about best practices to prevent and remediate oiling of vulnerable ecosystems. A number of studies have examined salt marsh soil microbial communities following the spill, but most have primarily concentrated on prokaryotes. The extent to which oiling elicited shifts in fungal diversity and community composition remains unclear. Here we present spatial and temporal comparisons of salt marsh soil fungal communities at two southern Louisiana salt marshes with contrasting oiling histories. We profiled fungal communities in 2013 alongside corresponding measurements of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to assess whether and how responses to oiling are distinguishable from natural heterogeneity. Analyses based on high-resolution unbiased spatial sampling demonstrated that fungal communities did not align with shoreline classification of oiling less than three years after initial oiling, despite observable differences in oil residues and secondary oiling. Notably, extensive sampling allowed delineation of benchmark sampling thresholds and illustrated the value of using ranked differentials of relative abundance to characterize soil fungal communities. Our findings highlight the need for combining high-resolution sampling with judgment-based and systematic sampling approaches to accurately capture responses of salt marsh soil fungal community to oiling.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Wetlands Ecology and Management

First Page

239

Last Page

256

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