Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Assessing the long-term effects of a catastrophic oil spill on subtidal coral reef communities off the Caribbean coast of Panama (1985–2017)

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Marine Biodiversity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Accidental oil discharges pose acute and chronic risks on coral communities, but knowledge on the ecological long-term implications is fragmentary. Here, we examine the potential short-, mid-, and long-term effects of a major oil spill on subtidal reef communities over a 30-year period using a multicontrol before-after-control-impact (BACI) approach. In April 1986, 8000 t (~ 9.3 106 L) of crude oil were released from a refinery in Bahia Las Minas (Caribbean Panama) contaminating an area of about 40 km2 consisting of intertidal and subtidal mangrove, seagrass, sandy, and coral reef habitats. Surveys of oiled and unpolluted control sites have been conducted at different times between 1985 and 2017 and changes in community metrics (i.e., percent live cover, diversity, community composition, and recruitment) were compared with pre-spill data. The main focus was on scleractinian corals, but impacts on other major benthic taxa were also considered. Short-term oil effects on scleractinian corals included substantial declines in live cover, and diversity as well as changes in community structure being detectable up to 4 years after the spill, while other benthic taxa were hardly affected. Branching corals, such as Acropora palmata, seemed to suffer more, but strong incident-related declines could also be seen in two massive species (i.e., Pseudodiploria clivosa and Porites astreoides). Recruitment rates were not significantly different relative to oil exposure, but number of recruits showed strong temporal variation both at the oiled and control sites. While short-term effects (1 year post-spill) could be unequivocally linked to the spill, assessment of mid-term impacts was complicated by cumulative, albeit different stressors (diseases, bleaching, warming, additional accidental oil discharges) that have been driving changes at oiled and control sites respectively and thus ultimately concealing any effects of the spill. Our data did not provide evidence of a long-term (> 10 years) chronic impact of the oil spill, but instead showed that a variety of factors have contributed to reef degradation both at oiled and control sites over the survey period.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aronson RB, Precht WF (1995) Landscape patterns of reef coral diversity: a test of the intermediate disturbance hypothesis. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 192:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Aronson RB, Precht WF (2001a) Evolutionary paleoecology of Caribbean coral reefs. In: Allman WD, Bottjer DJ (eds) Evolutionary paleoecology: the ecological context of macroevolutionary change. Columbia University Press, New York, pp 171–233

    Google Scholar 

  • Aronson RB, Precht WF (2001b) White-band disease and the changing face of Caribbean coral reefs. In: Porter JW (ed) The ecology and etiology of newly emerging marine diseases, developments in hydrobiology. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp 23–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Aronson R, Precht W (2016) Physical and biological drivers of coral reef dynamics. In: Hubbard DK et al (eds) Coral reefs at the crossroads, coral reefs of the world 6. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 261–275. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7567-0_11

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bak R (1987) Effects of chronic oil pollution on a Caribbean coral reef. Mar Pollut Bull 18:534–539

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bak RPM, Engel MS (1979) Distribution, abundance and survival of juvenile hermatypic corals (Scleractinia) and the importance of life history strategies in the parent coral community. Mar Biol 54:341–352

    Google Scholar 

  • Ballou TG, Hess SC, Getter CD, Knap A, Dodge R, Sleeter T (1987) Final results of the API tropics oil spill and dispersant use experiments in Panama. In: international oil spill conference, vol 1. American Petroleum Institute, pp 634B–634B

  • Ballou TG, Hess SC, Dodge RE, Knap AH, Sleeter TD (1989) Effects of untreated and chemically dispersed oil on tropical marine communities: a long-term field experiment. In: International Oil Spill Conference, vol 1. American Petroleum Institute, pp 447–454

  • Beyer J, Trannum HC, Bakke T, Hodson PV, Collier TK (2016) Environmental effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: a review. Mar Pollut Bull 110:28–51

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown BE, Howard LS (1985) Assessing the effects of “stress” on reef corals. Adv Mar Biol 22:1–63

    Google Scholar 

  • Buhl-Mortensen L (1996) Type II statistical errors in environmental science and the precautionary principle. Mar Pollut Bull 32:528–531

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burns KA, Codi S (1998) Contrasting impacts of localised versus catastrophic oil spills in mangrove sediments. Mangroves Salt Marshes 2:63–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Burns KA, Knap AH (1989) The Bahia Las Minas oil spill hydrocarbon uptake by reef building corals. Mar Pollut Bull 20:391–398

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burns KA, Garrity SD, Jorissen D, MacPherson J, Stoelting M, Tierney J, Yelle-Simmons L (1994) The Galeta oil spill. II. Unexpected persistence of oil trapped in mangrove sediments. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 38:349–364

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke KR, Gorley RN (2006) PRIMER V6: User manual-tutorial. Marine Laboratory, Plymouth

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke KR, Green RH (1988) Statistical design and analysis for a ‘biological effects’ study. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 46:213–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke KR, Warwick RM (1994) Change in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation, 2nd edn. PRIMER-E Ltd, Plymouth Marine Laboratory

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell JH (1997) Disturbance and recovery of coral assemblages. Coral Reefs 16:101–113

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell JH, Hughes TP, Wallace CC (1997) A 30-year study of coral abundance, recruitment, and disturbance at several scales in space and time. Ecol Monogr 67:461–488

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook CB, Knap AH (1983) Effects of crude oil and chemical dispersant on photosynthesis in the brain coral Diploria strigosa. Mar Biol 78:21–27

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Corredor JE, Morell JM, Del Castillo CE (1990) Persistence of spilled crude oil in a tropical intertidal environment. Mar Pollut Bull 21:385–388

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cubit JD, Getter CD, Jackson JBC, Garrity SD, Caffey HM, Thompson RC, Weil E, Marshall MJ (1987) An oil spill affecting coral reefs and mangroves on the Caribbean coast of Panama. In: International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings, vol 1987, pp 401–406

    Google Scholar 

  • Dodge RE, Baca BJ, Knap AH, Snedaker SC, Sleeter TD (1995) The effects of oil and chemically dispersed oil in tropical ecosystems: 10 years of monitoring experimental sites. MSRC Tech Rep Ser 95-014, Washington, DC: Marine Spill Response Corporation, 93 p

  • Downs CA, Richmond RH, Mendiola WJ, Rougée L, Ostrander GK (2006) Cellular physiological effects of the MV Kyowa Violet fuel-oil spill on the hard coral, Porites lobata. Environ Toxicol Chem 25:3171–3180

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duarte CM, Borja A, Carstensen J, Elliott M, Krause-Jensen D, Marbà N (2015) Paradigms in the recovery of estuarine and coastal ecosystems. Estuar Coast 38:1202–1212

    Google Scholar 

  • Eakin CM, Feingold JS, Glynn PW (1993) Oil refinery impacts on coral reef communities in Arub. In:Proceedings of the Colloquium on Global Aspects of Coral Reefs, Health, Hazards and History, pp. 139–145

  • Eakin CM, Morgan JA, Heron SF, Smith TB, Liu G, Alvarez-Filip L, Baca B, Bartels E, Bastidas C, Bouchon C, Brandt M (2010) Caribbean corals in crisis: record thermal stress, bleaching, and mortality in 2005. PLoS One 5:e13969

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Edgar GJ, Barrett NS (2000) Impact of the Iron Baron oil spill on subtidal reef assemblages in Tasmania. Mar Pollut Bull 40:36–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Edinger EN, Risk MJ (1995) Preferential survivorship of brooding corals in a regional extinction. Paleobiology 21:200–219

    Google Scholar 

  • Etnoyer PJ, Wickes LN, Silva M, Dubick JD, Balthis L, Salgado E, MacDonald IR (2016) Decline in condition of gorgonian octocorals on mesophotic reefs in the northern Gulf of Mexico: before and after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Coral Reefs 35:77–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardner TA, Côté IM, Gill JA, Grant A, Watkinson AR (2003) Long-term region-wide declines in Caribbean corals. Science 301:958–960

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gladfelter WB (1982) White-band disease in Acropora palmata- implications for the structure and growth of shallow reefs. Bull Mar Sci 32:639–643

    Google Scholar 

  • Glasby TM, Underwood AJ (1996) Sampling to differentiate between pulse and press perturbations. Environ Monit Assess 42:241–252

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goodbody-Gringley G, Wetzel DL, Gillon D, Pulster E, Miller A, Ritchie KB (2013) Toxicity of Deepwater Horizon source oil and the chemical dispersant, Corexit® 9500, to coral larvae. PLoS ONE 8:e45574

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gray JS (1990) Statistics and the precautionary principle. Mar Pollut Bull 21:174–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Guzman HM (2003) Caribbean coral reefs of Panama: present status and future perspectives. In: Latin American Coral Reefs. Cortes, J. (ed). Elsevier Science B.V, Amsterdam, p 241

    Google Scholar 

  • Guzman HM, Holst I (1993) Effects of chronic oil-sediment pollution on the reproduction of the Caribbean reef coral Siderastrea siderea. Mar Pollut Bull 26:276–282

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guzman HM, Jarvis KE (1996) Vanadium century record from Caribbean reef corals: a tracer of oil pollution in Panama. Ambio 25:523–526

    Google Scholar 

  • Guzman HM, Jackson JB, Weil E (1991) Short-term ecological consequences of a major oil spill on Panamanian subtidal reef corals. Coral Reefs 10:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Guzman HM, Jackson JBC, Holst I (1993) Changes and recovery of subtidal reef corals. Long-term assessment of the oil spill at Bahia Las Minas. Synthesis report, vol. 11, technical report U.S. Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, New Orleans, p. 361–446

  • Guzman HM, Burns KA, Jackson JB (1994) Injury, regeneration and growth of Caribbean reef corals after a major oil spill in Panama. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 105:231–241

    Google Scholar 

  • Guzman HM, Cipriani R, Jackson JB (2008) Historical decline in coral reef growth after the Panama Canal. Ambio 37:342–346

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Haapkylä J, Ramade F, Salvat B (2007) Oil pollution on coral reefs: a review of the state of knowledge and management needs. Vie Milieu 57:91–107

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartmann AC, Sandin SA, Chamberland VF, Marhaver KL, de Goeij JM, Vermeij MJ (2015) Crude oil contamination interrupts settlement of coral larvae after direct exposure ends. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 536:163–173

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins SJ, Gibbs PE, Pope ND, Burt GR, Chesman BS, Bray S, Proud SV, Spence SK, Southward AJ, Langston WJ (2002) Recovery of polluted ecosystems: the case for long-term studies. Mar Environ Res 54:215–222

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hoeksema BW, Cairns S (2020) World List of Scleractinia. Scleractinia. Accessed at: http://www.marinespecies.org/scleractinia/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1363 on 2020-02-26

  • Holdway DA (2002) The acute and chronic effects of wastes associated with offshore oil and gas production on temperate and tropical marine ecological processes. Mar Pollut Bull 44:185–203

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes TP, Graham NA, Jackson JB, Mumby PJ, Steneck RS (2010) Rising to the challenge of sustaining coral reef resilience. Trends Ecol Evol 25:633–642

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Informe General sobre el Petróleo en Panamá (2004) El Petróleo en Panamá. Reporte General para Oilwatch Panamá 2004. mnjpat.tripod.com/informesdocumentos/id3.html, 10 pp. [accessed 23/04/2020]

  • Irizarry E, Weil E (2009) Spatial variability in survivorship of juvenile corals in La Parguera, southwestern Puerto Rico. Caribb J Sci 45:269–281

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson JB, Cubit JD, Keller BD, Batista V, Burns K, Caffey HM, Caldwell RL, Garrity SD, Getter CD, Gonzales C, Guzman HM, Kaufmann KW, Levings SC KAH, Marshall MJ, Steger R, Thompson RC, Weil E (1989) Ecological effects of a major oil spill on Panamanian coastal marine communities. Science 243:37–44

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson JBC, Donovan MK, Cramer KL, Lam VV (eds) (2014) Status and trends of Caribbean coral reefs:1970–2012. Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland

  • Jernelöv A (2010) How to defend against future oil spills. Nature 466:182–183

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Knowlton N (2001) The future of coral reefs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 98:5419–5425

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kuffner IB, Toth LT (2016) A geological perspective on the degradation and conservation of western Atlantic coral reefs. Conserv Biol 30:706–715

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lane A, Harrison PL (2002) Effects of oil contaminants on survivorship of larvae of the scleractinian reef corals Acropora tenuis, Goniastrea aspera and Platygyra sinensis from the Great Barrier Reef. Proc 9th Int Coral Reef Symp 1:403–408

  • Lasker HR, Peters EC, Coffroth MA (1984) Bleaching of reef coelenterates in the San Blas Islands, Panama. Coral Reefs 3:183–190

    Google Scholar 

  • Lessios HA (1988) Mass mortality of Diadema antillarum in the Caribbean: what have we learned? Annu Rev Ecol Syst 19:371–393

    Google Scholar 

  • Loya Y, Rinkevich B (1980) Effects of oil pollution on coral reef communities. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 3:167–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Meesters EH, Bos A, Gast GJ (1992) Effects of sedimentation and lesion position on coral tissue regeneration. Proc 7th Int Coral Reef Symp 2:681–688

  • Murphy D, Gemmell B, Vaccari L, Li C, Bacosa H, Evans M, Gemmell C, Harvey T, Jalali M, Niepa TH (2016) An in-depth survey of the oil spill literature since 1968: long term trends and changes since Deepwater horizon. Mar Pollut Bull 113:371–379

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council (NRC) (2003) Oil in the sea III: inputs, fates, and effects. National Academy Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Negri AP, Heyward AJ (2000) Inhibition of fertilization and larval metamorphosis of the coral Acropora millepora (Ehrenberg, 1834) by petroleum products. Mar Pollut Bull 41:420–427

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Negri AP, Brinkman DL, Flores F, Botté ES, Jones RJ, Webster NS (2016) Acute ecotoxicology of natural oil and gas condensate to coral reef larvae. Sci Rep 6:21153

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Nugues MM, Roberts CM (2003) Partial mortality in massive reef corals as an indicator of sediment stress on coral reefs. Mar Pollut Bull 46:314–323

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paddack MJ, Reynolds JD, Aguilar C, Appeldoorn RS, Beets J, Burkett EW, Chittaro PM, Clarke K, Esteves R, Fonseca AC, Forrester GE, Friedlander AM, García-Sais J, González-Sansón G, Jordan LKB, McClellan DB, Miller MW, Molloy PP, Mumby PJ, Nagelkerken I, Nemeth M, Navas-Camacho R, Pitt J, Polunin NVC, Reyes-Nivia MA, Robertson DR, Rodríguez-Ramírez A, Salas E, Smith SR, Spieler RE, Steele MA, Williams ID, Wormald CL, Watkinson AR, Côté IM (2009) Recent region-wide declines in Caribbean reef fish abundance. Curr Biol 19:590–595

  • Price ARG (1998) Impact of the 1991 Gulf War on the coastal environment and ecosystems: current status and future prospects. Environ Int 24(1/2):91–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramade F, Roche H (2006) Ecotoxicological impingement of pollutants on coral reefs: a review. Rev Ecol Terre Vie 61:3–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Reddy CM, Eglinton TI, Hounshell A, White HK, Xu L, Gaines RB, Frysinger GS (2002) The West Falmouth oil spill after thirty years: the persistence of petroleum hydrocarbons in marsh sediments. Environ Sci Technol 36:4754–4760

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Renegar DA, Schuler P, Turner N, Dodge R, Riegl B, Knap A, Bera G, Jézéquel R, Benggio B (2017) TROPICS field study (Panama), 32-year site visit: observations and conclusions for near shore dispersant use NEBA and tradeoffs. In: International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings, vol 1. International Oil Spill Conference, pp 3030–3050

  • Rinkevich B (1996) Do reproduction and regeneration in damaged corals compete for energy allocation? Mar Ecol Prog Ser 143:297–302

    Google Scholar 

  • Rinkevich B, Loya Y (1977) Harmful effects of chronic oil pollution on a Red Sea scleractinian coral population. Proc 3rd Int Symp Coral Reefs 2:585–591

  • Ritson-Williams R, Arnold SN, Fogarty ND, Steneck RS, Vermeij MJ, Paul VJ (2009) New perspectives on ecological mechanisms affecting coral recruitment on reefs. Smithson Contrib Mar Sci 38:437–457

    Google Scholar 

  • Rützler K, Sterrer W (1970) Oil pollution: damage observed in tropical communities along the atlantic seaboard of Panama. BioScience 20:222–224

  • Saenger P (1994) Cleaning up the Arabian Gulf: aftermath of an oil spill. Search 25:19–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Sangil C, Guzman HM (2016) Macroalgal communities on multi-stressed coral reefs in the Caribbean: long-term changes, spatial variations, and relationships with environmental variables. J Sea Res 117:7–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Scarlett A, Galloway TS, Canty M, Smith EL, Nilsson J, Rowland SJ (2005) Comparative toxicity of two oil dispersants, superdispersant-25 and corexit 9527, to a range of coastal species. Environ Toxicol Chem 24:1219–1227

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schutte VGW, Selig ER, Bruno JF (2010) Regional spatio-temporal trends in Caribbean coral reef benthic communities. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 402:115–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Shafir S, Van Rijn J, Rinkevich B (2007) Short and long term toxicity of crude oil and oil dispersants to two representative coral species. Environ Sci Technol 41:5571–5574

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shulman MJ, Robertson DR (1996) Changes in the coral reefs of San Blas, Caribbean Panama: 1983 to 1990. Coral Reefs 15:231–236

    Google Scholar 

  • Silliman BR, van de Koppel J, McCoy MW, Diller J, Kasozi GN, Earl K, Adams PN, Zimmerman AR (2012) Degradation and resilience in Louisiana salt marshes after the BP–Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109:11234–11239

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Soong K, Lang JC (1992) Reproductive integration in reef corals. Biol Bull 183:418–431

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Soto LA, Botello AV, Licea-Durán S, Lizárraga-Partida ML, Yáñez-Arancibia A (2014) The environmental legacy of the Ixtoc-I oil spill in Campeche Sound, southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Front Mar Sci 1:57

    Google Scholar 

  • Storrie J (2011) Montara wellhead platform oil spill – a remote area response. International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings. March 2011. pp 159. Available at: http://www.ioscproceedings.org/toc/iosc/2011/1 (Accessed: 20th November 2018)

  • Straughan D (1972) Factors causing environmental changes after an oil spill. J Petrol Technol 24:250–254

    Google Scholar 

  • Suchanek TH (1993) Oil impacts on marine invertebrate populations and communities. Am Zool 33:510–523

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner NR, Renegar DA (2017) Petroleum hydrocarbon toxicity to corals: a review. Mar Pollut Bull 119:1–16

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood AJ (1992) Beyond BACI: the detection of environmental impacts on populations in the real, but variable, world. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 161:145–178

    Google Scholar 

  • van Woesik R, Scott WJ, Aronson RB (2014) Lost opportunities: coral recruitment does not translate to reef recovery in the Florida Keys. Mar Pollut Bull 88:110–117

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weil E, Rogers CS (2011) Coral reef disease in the Atlantic-Caribbean. In: Dubinski Z, Tambler N (eds) Coral reefs: an ecosystem in transition. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 465–492

    Google Scholar 

  • Zar JH (1999) Biostatistical analysis, 4th edn. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

J.B.C. Jackson conceived the overall oil spill project and participated during the initial stage. A. Rose and K. Kaufman provided statistical advice and preliminary analysis, respectively. C. Guevara, J. Morales, C. Gomez, I. Holst, C. Jimenez, M. Diaz, and S. Dos Santos assisted in the field. Two anonymous reviewers provided valuable comments on a previous draft of the article. All necessary legal permits have been obtained from the Panamanian government to pursue this study. In memory of Dr. Brian D. Keller.

Funding

This study was initially supported by US Mineral Management Service (Contracts No. 14-12-0001-30355 and 30393), the Smithsonian Institution Environmental Science Program, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and the Secretaria Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación of Panama (SENACYT).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Stefanie Kaiser

    Present address: Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology, Laboratory of Polar Biology and Oceanobiology, University of Łódź, Banacha St. 12/16, 90-237, Łódź, Poland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, P O. Box 2072, Balboa, Panama

    Hector M. Guzman

  2. Center of Natural History, Universität Hamburg, 20146, Hamburg, Germany

    Stefanie Kaiser

  3. Department of Marine Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, PR, 00680, USA

    Ernesto Weil

Authors
  1. Hector M. Guzman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stefanie Kaiser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ernesto Weil
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stefanie Kaiser.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

No animal testing was performed during this study.

Sampling and field studies

All necessary permits for sampling and observational field studies have been obtained by the authors from the competent authorities and are mentioned in the acknowledgments. The study is compliant with CBD protocols.

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicity available, since they are part of an ongoing monitoring survey, but will be made available by the first author on reasonable request.

Authors’ contribution

HMG and EW conceived and designed the research. SK conducted the data analysis. HMG and SK wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

Additional information

Communicated by B. W. Hoeksema

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 1511 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Guzman, H.M., Kaiser, S. & Weil, E. Assessing the long-term effects of a catastrophic oil spill on subtidal coral reef communities off the Caribbean coast of Panama (1985–2017). Mar. Biodivers. 50, 28 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-020-01057-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-020-01057-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation