Estuaries of the northern Gulf of Mexico, from the freshwater, tidally-influenced wetlands to coastal waters, are some of the most productive on the planet. However, these coastal areas are also subject to numerous anthropogenic and natural disturbances. Among the largest of these perturbations is the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform, which released an unprecedented amount of crude oil that heavily impacted these ecosystems. Following this event, our understanding of coastal processes in the Gulf of Mexico has greatly advanced – including evaluating the immediate, direct, and indirect impacts of oil on the physical, chemical, and biological aspects of the ecosystem (e.g., oil transport, microbial degradation, biogeochemistry, wetland erosion, organisms and their habitats, food web processes and dynamics, coastal restoration, and management, etc.).
The influx of funding generated by penalties associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill sparked a renewed interest in the chemical, physical, and biological processes and functions of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystems. Despite this, few article collections or Research Topics capture the complexities and multiple stressors that the region faces. The aim of this collection is to address this gap, by soliciting articles that address a wide range of research areas and perspectives on coastal ecosystem dynamics.
In this collection, we aim to seek articles that highlight the following areas of research:
• Improved understanding of the Gulf of Mexico’s coastal and nearshore ecosystems, from research conducted in the era post-Deepwater Horizon.
• Research on the ecology of these productive ecosystems and their resilience and susceptibility to disturbances, both oil and otherwise.
• Articles addressing the physical, chemical, and biological aspects of these ecosystems.
• Integrative approaches that synthesize results across various research areas over both the short- and long-term scales.
• Studies that include empirical and/or modeling findings with implications for resilience and/or restoration.
The overarching goal of this collection is to illustrate the improvements in ecological understanding and provide scientists and management practitioners with a roadmap for future studies that will contribute to the conservation of these coastal ecosystems for decades to come.
Photo credit: Eddie Weeks, Louisiana State University
Estuaries of the northern Gulf of Mexico, from the freshwater, tidally-influenced wetlands to coastal waters, are some of the most productive on the planet. However, these coastal areas are also subject to numerous anthropogenic and natural disturbances. Among the largest of these perturbations is the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform, which released an unprecedented amount of crude oil that heavily impacted these ecosystems. Following this event, our understanding of coastal processes in the Gulf of Mexico has greatly advanced – including evaluating the immediate, direct, and indirect impacts of oil on the physical, chemical, and biological aspects of the ecosystem (e.g., oil transport, microbial degradation, biogeochemistry, wetland erosion, organisms and their habitats, food web processes and dynamics, coastal restoration, and management, etc.).
The influx of funding generated by penalties associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill sparked a renewed interest in the chemical, physical, and biological processes and functions of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystems. Despite this, few article collections or Research Topics capture the complexities and multiple stressors that the region faces. The aim of this collection is to address this gap, by soliciting articles that address a wide range of research areas and perspectives on coastal ecosystem dynamics.
In this collection, we aim to seek articles that highlight the following areas of research:
• Improved understanding of the Gulf of Mexico’s coastal and nearshore ecosystems, from research conducted in the era post-Deepwater Horizon.
• Research on the ecology of these productive ecosystems and their resilience and susceptibility to disturbances, both oil and otherwise.
• Articles addressing the physical, chemical, and biological aspects of these ecosystems.
• Integrative approaches that synthesize results across various research areas over both the short- and long-term scales.
• Studies that include empirical and/or modeling findings with implications for resilience and/or restoration.
The overarching goal of this collection is to illustrate the improvements in ecological understanding and provide scientists and management practitioners with a roadmap for future studies that will contribute to the conservation of these coastal ecosystems for decades to come.
Photo credit: Eddie Weeks, Louisiana State University
