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Macroinfaunal recovery on the beach most severely affected by the ‘Prestige’ oil spill (O Rostro, Galicia, north-west Spain)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 October 2013

J. Junoy ,
C. Castellanos ,
R. Bernardo-Madrid ,
R. Riera  and
J.M. Viéitez
J. Junoy*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, E-28871 Alcalá de Henares, Spain UE-US Marine Biodiversity Research Group, Instituto Franklin, Universidad de Alcalá, E-28871 Alcalá de Henares, Spain
C. Castellanos
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, E-28871 Alcalá de Henares, Spain
R. Bernardo-Madrid
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, E-28871 Alcalá de Henares, Spain
R. Riera
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones Medioambientales del Atlántico (CIMA SL), Arzobispo Elías Yanes 44, E-38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
J.M. Viéitez
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, E-28871 Alcalá de Henares, Spain
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: J. Junoy, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, E-28871 Alcalá de Henares, Spain email: juan.junoy@uah.es
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Abstract

Exposed sandy beaches are widespread coastal habitats with temporal and spatial variability. O Rostro beach (Galicia, north-west Spain) was the most severely affected beach in the ‘Prestige’ oil spill (November 2002). Monitoring sampling was conducted to study macroinfaunal composition and structure after the oil spill episode. The purpose of this survey was to characterize macroinfaunal variations on the beach over a yearly scale (2003–2007) and determine the recovery period. These data are compared with the only available data collected before the spill (1995). Two zones where identified with different recovery trends: (1) supralittoral, occupied either by talitrid amphipods, oniscoidean isopods and insects; and (2) intertidal, where marine crustaceans prevailed. Beach morphodynamics partially buried the oil, which gradually reappeared and was dragged to the coast. Negative ecological effects were observed in the short term (six months after the 2002 spill) but macroinfauna apparently recovered in the following years (2004–2007), showing that macroinfaunal assemblages of this beach are resilient enough to recover after severe stress.

Keywords

oil-spill‘Prestige’beachmacroinfaunaGaliciaAtlantic Ocean
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 94 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 17 - 24
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2013 

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