Sensitivity of benthic vegetation and invertebrate functional guilds to oil spills and its use in oil contingency management related negotiation processes

Abstract

This paper gives an overview of the impact of an oil spill on the benthic vegetation and invertebrate communities of Nõva and Keibu bays, western Gulf of Finland. No negative effects of the oil spill on the species composition and depth distribution of macrophytobenthos were observed. The coverage of macrophytes and the coverage of Pylaiella littoralis were lower in the impacted than in reference areas. Among different invertebrate feeding guilds herbivores were the most sensitive to the oil spill, being tremendously reduced at sites of oil pollution. Deposit feeders and suspension feeders were positively affected by the spill. Based on the sensitivity of benthic communities, we explore the issue how this information can be used to support decisions and negotiations on the possible oil spill response actions.