Effect of an artificial oil spill experiment on the nematodes community in intertidal zone

Abstract

The study showed that the oil spill had short-term effects and that the structural characteristics of the nematodes community returned to normal after the point in time at which the TPH concentrations fell back to their normal levels. Experimental oil application in intertidal sandy sediment did not cause any observable decline 1 month after oil application in densities in this experiment. The concentration of TPH in the experiment plot after oil application was expectedly higher for 4 days than the concentration in the experiment plot before oil application. The concentration of TPH decreased at a faster rate initially and progressively after 4 days. It appears that the residence time of the added oil was relatively short. Only, the density of nematodes sharply decreased immediately after oil application in experiment plots. And the decreased density of nematodes slowly increased as time passed. The sharp decrease in the density of nematodes in the experiment plots during the first 4 days after the spill could be attributed to the short-term toxic effects of the oil. The period of low density of meiobenthos also coincided with the maximum concentration of TPH in the sediment. The structure of nematodes communities in the experiment plots was similar before and 1 month after oil application. This is supported by a significant negative interaction that indicated the effect TPH in the sediment had on nematodes density during the study period.