536
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
S. A. Murawski et al. (eds.), Deep Oil Spills,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11605-7_31
Chapter 31
A Synthesis of Top-Down and Bottom-Up
Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Using Ecosystem Modeling
Lindsey N. Dornberger, Cameron H. Ainsworth, Felicia Coleman,
and Dana L. Wetzel
Abstract The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM)
triggered the largest response to a spill in US history (Levy and Gopalakrishnan, J
Nat Resources Pol Res, 2(3):297–315, 2010; Barron, Toxicol Pathol 40(2):315–
320, 2012). The cumulative research from this response has resulted in hundreds of
publications describing the range of impacts from the DWH event on various components of the system. An ecosystem-based approach to assessing the consequences
of the DWH oil spill can help to address non-linear and ecosystem-level interactions
(reviewed by Curtin and Prellezo, Mar Policy 34(5):821–830, 2010) and would be
a key step toward integrating the knowledge gained from research efforts. Whereas
Ainsworth et al. (PLoS One 13(1):e0190840, 2018) tested top-down effects of the
oil spill on fish abundance and mortality, this chapter represents a synthesis of bottom- up and top-down effects across a broader range of taxa. Bottom-up effects
relate to the accumulation of detrital biomass and oil on the seafloor as a result of
marine oil snow sedimentation and flocculent accumulation (MOSSFA).
Keywords Atlantis · Ecosystem modeling · Oil toxicity · Cumulative effects ·
Fishing mortality
L. N. Dornberger (*) · C. H. Ainsworth
University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, St. Petersburg, FL, USA
e-mail: ainsworth@usf.edu
F. Coleman
Florida State University, Coastal and Marine Laboratory, St. Teresa, FL, USA
e-mail: fcoleman@fsu.edu
D. L. Wetzel
Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, FL, USA
e-mail: dana@mote.org
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
S. A. Murawski et al. (eds.), Deep Oil Spills,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11605-7_31
Chapter 31
A Synthesis of Top-Down and Bottom-Up
Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Using Ecosystem Modeling
Lindsey N. Dornberger, Cameron H. Ainsworth, Felicia Coleman,
and Dana L. Wetzel
Abstract The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM)
triggered the largest response to a spill in US history (Levy and Gopalakrishnan, J
Nat Resources Pol Res, 2(3):297–315, 2010; Barron, Toxicol Pathol 40(2):315–
320, 2012). The cumulative research from this response has resulted in hundreds of
publications describing the range of impacts from the DWH event on various components of the system. An ecosystem-based approach to assessing the consequences
of the DWH oil spill can help to address non-linear and ecosystem-level interactions
(reviewed by Curtin and Prellezo, Mar Policy 34(5):821–830, 2010) and would be
a key step toward integrating the knowledge gained from research efforts. Whereas
Ainsworth et al. (PLoS One 13(1):e0190840, 2018) tested top-down effects of the
oil spill on fish abundance and mortality, this chapter represents a synthesis of bottom- up and top-down effects across a broader range of taxa. Bottom-up effects
relate to the accumulation of detrital biomass and oil on the seafloor as a result of
marine oil snow sedimentation and flocculent accumulation (MOSSFA).
Keywords Atlantis · Ecosystem modeling · Oil toxicity · Cumulative effects ·
Fishing mortality
L. N. Dornberger (*) · C. H. Ainsworth
University of South Florida, College of Marine Science, St. Petersburg, FL, USA
e-mail: ainsworth@usf.edu
F. Coleman
Florida State University, Coastal and Marine Laboratory, St. Teresa, FL, USA
e-mail: fcoleman@fsu.edu
D. L. Wetzel
Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, FL, USA
e-mail: dana@mote.org