VIMS

Grasses lead oil spill recovery

Heavily oiled marsh 9 months after Deepwater Horizon Spill. Heavily oiled marsh 24 months after Deepwater Horizon spill.

 

Photos of a heavily oiled salt marsh in Louisiana's Barataria Bay show the drastic die-back of marsh grasses 9 months after 2010's Deepwater Horizon oil spill (L), and incipient recovery of the plant community 24 months post-spill (R). Photos courtesy of Dr. Qianxin Lin.

Learn more about long-term sampling of these important coastal salt marshes here.