Impact of DWH oil spill on Spartina alterniflora in the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, June 2015- September 2016

Biodiversity, whether functional, taxonomic, or genetic, can influence a range of marine ecosystem services such as productivity and resource utilization. Theory predicts that the effects of diversity on ecosystem function may be strongest in the presence of disturbance or changing environmental conditions (e.g., the insurance effect). This positive effect of diversity on resistance and stability is particularly clear in marine salt marsh plants and seagrasses. The Chandeleur Islands provide a natural setting to investigate the inter-relationship between oiling disturbance and biodiversity in coastal ecosystems because areas in close proximity varied in their exposure to oil from the DWH spill.