FIGURE 1.

Mimicking environmental conditions in experimental ecology. (A) Schematic overview of the main abiotic and biotic mechanisms determining the fate of hydrocarbons in coastal marine sediments according to the tide level. At the intertidal zone, where redox conditions oscillate at the sediments’ surface, microbial communities alternate aerobic and anaerobic hydrocarbon degradation processes. Bioturbation processes by macrofauna include sediments reworking, oil burying, and micro-scale oxygen oscillations into the sediments. The microbial loop is controlled by top-down (predation by grazers and viruses) and bottom-top (nutrients and carbon fluxes) processes. (B) Experimental device used to assess the effect of crude oil on bio-turbated intertidal marine sediments applying tide cycles. (C) Main results and conclusions comparing oil polluted sediments with (NEREIS+BAL) and without H. diversicolor addition (BAL) from Stauffert et al. (2013a), 2013b. Bacterial and archaeal communities structures are based on sequences data from 16S rRNA gene transcripts libraries. Colors indicate OTU diversity within each phylum.