Long-Term Ecosystem Response to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service · University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · +6 more institutions
Abstract
The ecosystem response to the 1989 spill of oil from the Exxon Valdez into Prince William Sound, Alaska, shows that current practices for assessing ecological risks of oil in the oceans and, by extension, other toxic sources should be changed. Previously, it was assumed that impacts to populations derive almost exclusively from acute mortality. However, in the Alaskan coastal ecosystem, unexpected persistence of toxic subsurface oil and chronic exposures, even at sublethal levels, have continued to affect wildlife. Delayed population reductions and cascades of indirect effects postponed recovery. Development of ecosystem-based toxicology is required to understand and ultimately predict chronic, delayed, and…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 19.68
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 40
Authors
7- CHCharles H. PetersonCorresponding
NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Simon Fraser University, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Alaska Fisheries Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center
- SDStanley D. Rice
NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Simon Fraser University, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Alaska Fisheries Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center
- JWJeffrey W. Short
NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Simon Fraser University, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Alaska Fisheries Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center
- DEDaniel Esler
NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Simon Fraser University, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Alaska Fisheries Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center
- JLJames L. Bodkin
NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Simon Fraser University, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Alaska Fisheries Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center
Topics & keywords
- Ecosystem
- Wildlife
- Oil spill
- Environmental science
- Marine ecosystem
- Population
- Ecology
- Fishery
- Life below water