Cut or burn oil-contaminated vegetation: freshwater swamps

Overall effectiveness category No evidence found (no assessment)
Number of studies: 0
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

not assessed
Certainty

not assessed
Harms

not assessed

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Oil spills can damage vegetation in swamps. Lighter oils can kill plants through their toxic effects, whilst heavier oils coat and smother vegetation (Michel & Rutherford 2013). Coastal sites are vulnerable to offshore tanker spillages. For example, an estimated 5.5 million tonnes of oil has been released into mangrove-lined coastal waters around the world since 1958, killing at least 126,000 ha of mangrove vegetation (Duke 2016). Oil pipelines crossing inland wetlands (e.g. the Russia-China Oil Pipeline; Yu et al. 2010) pose a threat from leaks and malfunctions. Loss of vegetation can increase the risk of erosion and permanent habitat loss (Beland et al. 2017; https://youtu.be/UkATPicHIo4).

This action involves cutting or burning above-ground plant parts from oil-contaminated swamps. This may increase oxygen supply to the root zone (oil smothering leaves may interfere with oxygen diffusion) and prevent complete death of the oiled plants (Zengel & Michel 1996).

Caution: Activity on the wetland surface (e.g. foot traffic) could churn oil further into the sediment. Removing above-ground vegetation could increase rates of erosion. Hoff & Michel (2014) suggest that live mangrove vegetation should never be cut or burned, as the forest structure would take a long time to recover.

^{Beland M., Biggs T.W., Roberts D.A., Peterson S.H., Kokaly R.F. & Piazza S. (2017) Oiling accelerates loss of salt marshes, southeastern Louisiana. PLoS ONE, 12, e0181197.}

^{Hoff R, & Michel J. (2014) Oil Spills in Mangroves: Planning & Response Considerations. US Department of Commerce.}

^{Michel J. & Rutherford N. (2013) Oil Spills in Marshes: Planning & Response Considerations. US Department of Commerce.}

^{Michel J. & Rutherford N. (2014) Impacts, recovery rates and treatment options for spilled oil in marshes. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 82, 19–25.}

^{Yu X., Wang G., Zou Y., Wang Q., Zhao H. & Lu X. (2010) Effects of pipeline construction on wetland ecosystems: Russia-China Oil Pipeline Project (Mohe-Daqing Section). Ambio, 39, 447–450.}

^{Zengel S.A. & Michel J. (1996) Vegetation cutting as a clean-up method for salt and brackish marshes impacted by oil spills: a review and case history of the effects on plant recovery. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 32, 876–885.}

Key messages

We found no studies that evaluated the effects, on vegetation, of cutting or burning oil-contaminated vegetation in freshwater swamps.

‘We found no studies’ means that we have not yet found any studies that have directly evaluated this action during our systematic journal and report searches. Therefore we have been unable to assess whether or not the action is effective or has any harmful impacts. Please get in touch if you know of such a study for this action.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Please cite as:

Taylor N.G., Grillas P., Smith R.K. & Sutherland W.J. (2021) Marsh and Swamp Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Interventions to Conserve Marsh and Swamp Vegetation. Conservation Evidence Series Synopses. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

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This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Marsh and Swamp Conservation

Related Actions

Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
Cut or burn oil-contaminated vegetation: brackish/salt marshes Action Link	Likely to be ineffective or harmful	2	Synopsis Link
Cut or burn oil-contaminated vegetation: freshwater marshes Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link
Cut or burn oil-contaminated vegetation: brackish/saline swamps Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link