Long-Term Assessment of the Oil Spill at Bahia Las Minas, Panama. Synthesis Report. Volume 1. Executive Summary

摘要

Unplanned environmental modifications, such as those caused by major oil spills, generally cannot be studied using optimal designs because pre-existing monitoring data are not available as balanced sampling at both affected and unaffected areas. In such cases all that can be done in designing an assessment is to make the best use of available data. The study has two main objectives: to monitor the long-term changes that may occur in the distribution and abundance of marine organisms as a result of the 1986 oil spill at Bahia Las Minas, and to understand the ecological processes causing any observed changes.