Deep‐sea ecosystems are fragile yet diverse habitats that are sensitive to disturbance. In the northern Gulf of Mexico deepwater extraction of hydrocarbons led to the accidental release of four million barrels of oil from the Macondo wellhead in 2010. The release of oil combined with the addition of dispersant at depth and the resulting delivery of oiled “marine snow” led to dramatic disruptions of diversity and ecosystem services within the near field deep‐sea benthic communities. Analysis of the biological trait diversity of the surrounding megabenthos reveals notable loss of traits that may explain the stunted recovery of communities within 2 km of the wellhead. The present megafauna show complete loss of some traits relating to tier, motility, and feeding mechanisms. Functional evenness was higher than in surveyed unaffected sites, highlighting some loss of trait space, reflecting increasing abundances of scavengers and the loss of sessile invertebrates. Loss of biological traits that aid in ecosystem resilience has impeded recovery of benthic communities severely impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

中文翻译：

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Deepwater Horizo​​n溢油场附近深海底栖大型动物群落的基于特质的多样性

深海生态系统是脆弱而多样化的生境，对干扰十分敏感。在墨西哥湾北部，深水开采碳氢化合物导致2010年从Macondo井口意外释放了400万桶石油。石油的释放加上深处添加的分散剂，并最终产生了上油的“海洋雪”导致近场深海底栖生物群落中的多样性和生态系统服务受到严重破坏。对周围大型底栖动物的生物特征多样性进行的分析表明，这些特征显着丧失，这可能解释了井口2 km内群落发育迟缓。目前的大型动物显示出与等级，运动性和摄食机制有关的某些特征完全丧失。功能均匀性高于未调查的现场，突出了特征空间的一些损失，反映了清道夫的增加和无脊椎动物的丧失。丧失有助于生态系统复原力的生物特征，已阻碍了受深水地平线漏油事件严重影响的底栖生物群落的恢复。