Abstract:

Copepod Species data from salt marshes in Barataria Bay, Louisiana. Samples were collected from 2011-2014 at various sites with different oiling intensities (including reference sites without obvious oiling, lightly oiled, moderately oiled and heavily oiled) to determine the effects and recovery from the spill. Copepod species abundances are presented and copepods were assigned a to a life history stage, gender and reproductive status (by the presence or absence of an egg sac).

Suggested Citation:

Fleeger, John, and Rita Riggio. 2015. Copepod Species data from Barataria Bay, 2011-2014 from a study of the effects and recovery from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Distributed by: Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC), Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N7J9649F

Publications:

Fleeger, J., Carman, K., Riggio, M., Mendelssohn, I., Lin, Q., Hou, A., … Zengel, S. (2015). Recovery of salt marsh benthic microalgae and meiofauna following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill linked to recovery of Spartina alterniflora. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 536, 39–54. doi:10.3354/meps11451

Fleeger, J. W., Riggio, M. R., Mendelssohn, I. A., Lin, Q., Hou, A., & Deis, D. R. (2017). Recovery of saltmarsh meiofauna six years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2017.03.001

Johnson, D. S., Fleeger, J. W., Riggio, M. R., Mendelssohn, I. A., Lin, Q., Graham, S. A., … Hou, A. (2018). Saltmarsh plants, but not fertilizer, facilitate invertebrate recolonization after an oil spill. Ecosphere, 9(1), e02082. doi:10.1002/ecs2.2082

Fleeger, J. W., Riggio, M. R., Mendelssohn, I. A., Lin, Q., Deis, D. R., Johnson, D. S., … Hou, A. (2018). What Promotes the Recovery of Salt Marsh Infauna After Oil Spills? Estuaries and Coasts. doi:10.1007/s12237-018-0443-2

Purpose:

To determine the effects of and recovery from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill on benthic communities. Copepods are infaunal invertebrates that live in association with sediments. Here, samples were collected from the marsh platform, intertidal in areas that would be expected to be dominated by Spartina alterniflora. Data are presented in a publication: Fleeger J. W., K. R. Carman, M. R. Riggio, I. A. Mendelssohn, Q. Lin, A. Hou, D. R. Deis, and S. Zengel. 2015. Recovery of saltmarsh benthic microalgae and meiofauna following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill linked to recovery of Spartina alterniflora. Marine Ecology-Progress Series, 536:39-54.

Data Parameters and Units:

Numbers presented are counts per sample of individuals in a species. These counts are broken down by sex and developmental stage. Copepodites are pre-reproductive juveniles, and gravid females are egg bearing.

Methods:

A hand-held corer (inner diameter = 3.5 cm) was used to take two sediment cores to a depth of 2 cm at haphazardly selected locations at each plot or station to sample the meiofauna. Both cores were combined into a single sample cup. A stereo-dissecting microscope was used to identify and enumerate meiofauna to higher taxonomic rank (e.g., nematodes, copepods, polychaetes). Adult and juvenile copepods were picked from the sample, and adults were later identified to species. Species names are not always know and this is not a formal taxonomic analysis. Names in the file are working names given to a particular species - it may be undescirbed or unknown.

Individual Files: