Oil Spill Changes Microbe Communities

The beaches around the Gulf of Mexico harbor different nematodes, protists and fungi now than they did before the Deepwater Horizon disaster in April 2010.

Written byJef Akst

| 1 min read

Save for Later

Listen with Speechify

0:00

1:00

Belleair Boulevard on Dauphin Island, Alabama, in September 2010HOLLY BIK

More than 2 years following the largest oil spill the Gulf of Mexico has ever seen, scientists are still discovering consequences on the surrounding ecosystems. Most recently, researchers at the University of New Hampshire’s Hubbard Center for Genome Studies (HCGS) and colleagues found that microbial communities in the marine sediments around the Gulf changed significantly as a result of the disaster, according to the study published this week (June 6) in PLoS ONE.

The researchers sampled five shore sites, near Dauphin Island, Alabama, and Grand Isle, Louisiana, at two time points—just after the spill began (before oil had reached the beaches) and again in September 2010. “In that short time period, we saw a drastic change in the microbial community,” lead author Holly Bik, then ...

Interested in reading more?

The Scientist ARCHIVES

Become a Member of

Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!

Join for free today

Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

Jef Akst
Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
View Full Profile