Effects of Crude and Diesel Oil Spills on Plant Communities at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and the Derivation of Oil Spill Sensitivity Maps
Crude oil was spilled on six of the major Prudhoe Bay plant communities at an intensity of 12 l/m². The communities occurred along a topographic-moisture gradient. The reaction of the major species of the various communities was recorded one year following the spills. Sedges and willows sho...
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ftunivcalgaryojs:oai:journalhosting.ucalgary.ca:article/65708 2023-05-15T14:19:18+02:00 Effects of Crude and Diesel Oil Spills on Plant Communities at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and the Derivation of Oil Spill Sensitivity Maps Walker, D.A. Webber, P.J. Everett, K.R. Brown, J. 1978-01-01 application/pdf https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65708 eng eng The Arctic Institute of North America https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65708/49622 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65708 ARCTIC; Vol. 31 No. 3 (1978): September: 153–411; 242-259 1923-1245 0004-0843 Diesel fuels Environmental impacts Maps Oil spills on land Crude oil Plant distribution Prudhoe Bay region Alaska info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion research-article 1978 ftunivcalgaryojs 2022-03-22T21:22:45Z Crude oil was spilled on six of the major Prudhoe Bay plant communities at an intensity of 12 l/m². The communities occurred along a topographic-moisture gradient. The reaction of the major species of the various communities was recorded one year following the spills. Sedges and willows showed substantial recovery from crude oil spills. Mosses, lichens, and most dicotyledons showed little or no recovery. On a very wet plot with standing water, the vegetation showed total recovery one year following the spill. Dry plots, on the other hand, showed very poor recovery. Dryas integrifolia M. Vahl, the most important vascular species on dry sites, was killed. Identical experiments using diesel oil rather than crude oil showed all species except an aquatic moss to be killed. A sensitivity index for the communities was calculated on the basis of the percentage cover of the resistant species divided by the original total plant cover of the community. With this information an oil spill sensitivity map for an area of Prudhoe Bay was constructed using a vegetation map as a base. Using the crude oil data from Prudhoe Bay together with some from the literature, a predictive sensitivity map was also constructed for an accidental crude oil spill at nearby Franklin Bluffs. In this example all the community types are considered to have moderate to excellent recovery potential. Implications of the experiments and the mapping exercises for oil spill contingency planning are discussed. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Prudhoe Bay Alaska University of Calgary Journal Hosting ARCTIC 31 3 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Calgary Journal Hosting |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcalgaryojs |
language |
English |
topic |
Diesel fuels Environmental impacts Maps Oil spills on land Crude oil Plant distribution Prudhoe Bay region Alaska |
spellingShingle |
Diesel fuels Environmental impacts Maps Oil spills on land Crude oil Plant distribution Prudhoe Bay region Alaska Walker, D.A. Webber, P.J. Everett, K.R. Brown, J. Effects of Crude and Diesel Oil Spills on Plant Communities at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and the Derivation of Oil Spill Sensitivity Maps |
topic_facet |
Diesel fuels Environmental impacts Maps Oil spills on land Crude oil Plant distribution Prudhoe Bay region Alaska |
description |
Crude oil was spilled on six of the major Prudhoe Bay plant communities at an intensity of 12 l/m². The communities occurred along a topographic-moisture gradient. The reaction of the major species of the various communities was recorded one year following the spills. Sedges and willows showed substantial recovery from crude oil spills. Mosses, lichens, and most dicotyledons showed little or no recovery. On a very wet plot with standing water, the vegetation showed total recovery one year following the spill. Dry plots, on the other hand, showed very poor recovery. Dryas integrifolia M. Vahl, the most important vascular species on dry sites, was killed. Identical experiments using diesel oil rather than crude oil showed all species except an aquatic moss to be killed. A sensitivity index for the communities was calculated on the basis of the percentage cover of the resistant species divided by the original total plant cover of the community. With this information an oil spill sensitivity map for an area of Prudhoe Bay was constructed using a vegetation map as a base. Using the crude oil data from Prudhoe Bay together with some from the literature, a predictive sensitivity map was also constructed for an accidental crude oil spill at nearby Franklin Bluffs. In this example all the community types are considered to have moderate to excellent recovery potential. Implications of the experiments and the mapping exercises for oil spill contingency planning are discussed. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Walker, D.A. Webber, P.J. Everett, K.R. Brown, J. |
author_facet |
Walker, D.A. Webber, P.J. Everett, K.R. Brown, J. |
author_sort |
Walker, D.A. |
title |
Effects of Crude and Diesel Oil Spills on Plant Communities at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and the Derivation of Oil Spill Sensitivity Maps |
title_short |
Effects of Crude and Diesel Oil Spills on Plant Communities at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and the Derivation of Oil Spill Sensitivity Maps |
title_full |
Effects of Crude and Diesel Oil Spills on Plant Communities at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and the Derivation of Oil Spill Sensitivity Maps |
title_fullStr |
Effects of Crude and Diesel Oil Spills on Plant Communities at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and the Derivation of Oil Spill Sensitivity Maps |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effects of Crude and Diesel Oil Spills on Plant Communities at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and the Derivation of Oil Spill Sensitivity Maps |
title_sort |
effects of crude and diesel oil spills on plant communities at prudhoe bay, alaska, and the derivation of oil spill sensitivity maps |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
1978 |
url |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65708 |
genre |
Arctic Prudhoe Bay Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Prudhoe Bay Alaska |
op_source |
ARCTIC; Vol. 31 No. 3 (1978): September: 153–411; 242-259 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_relation |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65708/49622 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65708 |
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ARCTIC |
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31 |
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