Project Page

Toxicity of Deepwater Horizon Oil and Dispersants on Florida's Reef Biota

Implementing Organization

University of South Florida

Overview

DWH Project Funding

$173,449

Known Leveraged Funding

$0

Funding Organization

Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI)

Funding Program

Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative GoMRI Grant Program

Details

Project Category

Science

Project Actions

Environmental Research

Targeted Resources

Human and/or Institutional Capacity

Project Description

A major concern for the State of Florida is the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on coral-reef and other hardbottom communities of the Florida shelves. We propose to test both the toxicity and the sublethal effects of crude oil and dispersants on organisms that are amenable to experimental manipulation and representative of the reef community. Test organisms are reef-dwelling benthic foraminifer Amphistegina gibbosa and Archaias angulatus. These taxa host symbiotic algae, calcify and are abundant along most of the Florida coastline.

Contact

Pamela Hallock-Muller
727-553-1567
pmuller@usf.edu
Project Website
Project Partners

None

Affiliated Institutions

None

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