Micro-organisms and Impacts
​Microbial communities suffer the impacts of chemical pollution as the impacts occur. The diversity of micro-organism species has been measured as higher following events such as oil spills which can lead to events such hypoxia (Newell, Eveillard, McCarthy, Gardner, Liu, & Ward 2014). The onset of hypoxia in microbial communities provides context for more intense instances of impact since larger life will require more oxygen. Increases in diversity among microbial organism following chemical pollution events are also concerning because the increased rates of diversity among microbes suggests that other microbe species have been moved to the Gulf of Mexico as a means of finding resources for benefit; the threat of invasive microbes following pollution events would mean that native species are facing increased competition due to anthropogenic causes.
​Land based fungal communities rely on relationships with plant species to engage in ecosystem function effectively. According to Lumibao et al. (2018), following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill fungal communities in saltwater marshes were impacted in alternate ways compared to microbes in marine environments, the fungal community’s response to oil was a decrease in diversity meaning the species of fungi either died off or moved to another location that better suited their needs. Changes in diversity of fungi species resulting from chemical pollution events causes problems within ecosystems because regulatory functions and relationships with other species are diminished, thus ecosystem functions are altered and can lead to further negative consquences.