Avian Cholera Causes Marine Bird Mortality in the Bering Sea of Alaska

Bodenstein, Barbara; Beckmen, Kimberlee B.; Kuletz, Kathy J.; Hemert, Caroline R. Van; Berlowski, B.M.; Shearn-Bochsler, Valerie I.

doi:10.7589/2014-12-273

Cited by 23 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Such events will likely influence population viability, but we currently lack sufficient data to model the potential for such events for spectacled eiders. However, recent outbreaks of diseases, such as avian cholera, haven been shown to threaten the persistence of common eider colonies in the Canadian Arctic (Descamps et al 2012), and cholera was recently associated with winter seabird die-offs near the wintering grounds of spectacled eiders (Bodenstein et al 2015). Such an outbreak, when spectacled eiders are concentrated in winter, could have severe consequences for population persistence.…”

Section: Population Viability Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Lead Exposure, Environmental Conditions, and Metapopulation Processes on Population Dynamics of Spectacled Eiders

Flint

Grand

Petersen³

et al. 2016

North American Fauna

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Spectacled eider Somateria fischeri numbers have declined and they are considered threatened in accordance with the US Endangered Species Act throughout their range. We synthesized the available information for spectacled eiders to construct deterministic, stochastic, and metapopulation models for this species that incorporated current estimates of vital rates such as nest success, adult survival, and the impact of lead poisoning on survival. Elasticities of our deterministic models suggested that the populations would respond most dramatically to changes in adult female survival and that the reductions in adult female survival related to lead poisoning were locally important. We also examined the sensitivity of the population to changes in lead exposure rates. With the knowledge that some vital rates vary with environmental conditions, we cast stochastic models that mimicked observed variation in productivity. We also used the stochastic model to examine the probability that a specific population will persist for periods of up to 50 y. Elasticity analysis of these models was consistent with that for the deterministic models, with perturbations to adult female survival having the greatest effect on population projections. When used in single population models, demographic data for some localities predicted rapid declines that were inconsistent with our observations in the field. Thus, we constructed a metapopulation model and examined the predictions for local subpopulations and the metapopulation over a wide range of dispersal rates. Using the metapopulation model, we were able to simulate the observed stability of local subpopulations as well as that of the metapopulation. Finally, we developed a global metapopulation model that simulates periodic winter habitat limitation, similar to that which might be experienced in years of heavy sea ice in the core wintering area of spectacled eiders in the central Bering Sea. Our metapopulation analyses suggested that no subpopulation is independent and that future management actions may be improved through a metapopulation framework. For example, management actions could include displacement of breeding females from "sink" areas that reduce the growth potential of the population as a whole. However, this action is contingent upon dispersal among local populations, for which there is limited information. Thus, we recommend that researchers examine dispersal behavior among areas on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in western Alaska. The metapopulation framework could also be applied at the rangewide scale to address the densitydependent limitation of available polynya habitat during winter that may limit the recovery of small subpopulations, such as that on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Reductions in other subpopulations may be necessary to ensure an increase in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta population. Thus, we recommend that managers consider the interpopulation dynamics of spectacled eiders at different spatial scales in future management actions.

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Section: Population Viability Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Lead Exposure, Environmental Conditions, and Metapopulation Processes on Population Dynamics of Spectacled Eiders

Flint

Grand

Petersen³

et al. 2016

North American Fauna

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“…The outbreak of avian cholera in Atlantic Canada between December 2006 and March 2007 is the first known report of an outbreak in a pelagic environment, although other marine bird mortality has been reported on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska (Bodenstein et al 2015) and among Common Eiders wintering along Danish sea ice (Christensen et al 1997). This pelagic outbreak is unique in that the host range was primarily restricted to scavenging gull species, which were important in transmission, perpetuation, and spread of the outbreak.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Furthermore, recognizing the remoteness of these locations and lack of access to diagnostic laboratories, if avian cholera continues to emerge in the Arctic, recognition of these lesions in any future mortality events could assist in making a preliminary diagnosis of avian cholera and selecting appropriate samples to send for confirmatory diagnosis. This is significant due to heightened public health and food security concerns that are encountered in local Arctic communities that rely on marine species for food (e.g., Bodenstein et al 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Pelagic Outbreak of Avian Cholera in North American Gulls: Scavenging as a Primary Mechanism for Transmission?

Wille

McBurney²,

Robertson

et al. 2016

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

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“…Recently Avian Cholera outbreaks have been reported at remote seabird breeding colonies located in the western Holarctic (Harms 2012, Bodenstein 2015. Avian Cholera is a highly virulent disease of birds caused by the bacterium Pasteurella multocida.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Avian Cholera emergence in Arctic-nesting northern Common Eiders: using community-based, participatory surveillance to delineate disease outbreak patterns and predict transmission risk

Iverson¹,

Forbes²,

Simard³

et al. 2016

E&S

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Avian Cholera Causes Marine Bird Mortality in the Bering Sea of Alaska

Cited by 23 publications

References 11 publications

Effects of Lead Exposure, Environmental Conditions, and Metapopulation Processes on Population Dynamics of Spectacled Eiders

Effects of Lead Exposure, Environmental Conditions, and Metapopulation Processes on Population Dynamics of Spectacled Eiders

A Pelagic Outbreak of Avian Cholera in North American Gulls: Scavenging as a Primary Mechanism for Transmission?

Avian Cholera emergence in Arctic-nesting northern Common Eiders: using community-based, participatory surveillance to delineate disease outbreak patterns and predict transmission risk

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