Effects of Deepwater Horizon oil on feather structure and thermoregulation in gulls: Does rehabilitation work?

Horak, Katherine E.; Barrett, Nicole L.; Ellis, Jeremy W.; Campbell, Emma M.; Dannemiller, Nicholas G.; Shriner, Susan A.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137380

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…We found no evidence of differences in gizzard content and size on probability of oiling as would be expected if the dietary base for eiders had changed because of oil pollution. We found marginal evidence for a change in body condition as a consequence of oil pollution, indicating that if eiders survived the oil spill, the ability to recover is high, which is supported for experiments with gulls (Horak et al., 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

“…The findings reported here may imply that treatment of oiled eiders and other birds should focus on individuals with long wings and large feet because such individuals have a high risk of being oiled, and they would furthermore be more valuable for conservation. However, experiments show that seabirds moderately contaminated with oil recover within some weeks without treatment (Horak et al., 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, demographic variables such as the proportion of nonbreeders and adult survival rates have been suggested to be severely affected by oil spills (Votier, Birkhead, et al., 2005 ; Votier, Hatchwell, et al., 2005 ; Wolfaardt et al., 2009 ). Finally, while several studies have focused on birds killed by oil pollution, fewer studies have examined the physiological and plumage consequences for individuals that survived oil spills (Alonso‐Alvarez et al., 2007 ; Bianchini & Morrissey, 2018 ; Champoux et al., 2020 ; Horak et al., 2017 , 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Antibacterial and anatomical defenses in an oil contaminated, vulnerable seaduck

Møller

Laursen

Izaguirre

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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Oil spills have killed thousands of birds during the last 100 years, but nonlethal effects of oil spills on birds remain poorly studied. We measured phenotype characters in 819 eiders Somateria mollissima (279 whole birds and 540 wings) of which 13.6% were oiled. We tested the hypotheses that (a) the morphology of eiders does not change due to oil contamination; (b) the anatomy of organs reflects the physiological reaction to contamination, for example, increase in metabolic demand, increase in food intake, and counteracting toxic effects of oil; (c) large locomotion apparatus that facilitates locomotion increases the risk of getting oiled; and (d) individual eiders with a higher production of secretions from the uropygial grand were more likely to have oil on their plumage. We tested whether 19 characters differed between oiled and nonoiled individuals, showing a consistent pattern. The final model retained seven predictor variables showing relationships between eiders contaminated with oil and food consumption, flight, and diving abilities. We tested whether these effects were due to differences in body condition, liver mass, empty gizzard mass, or other characters that could have been affected by impaired flight and diving ability. There was no evidence of such negative impact of oiling on eiders. We found that significant exposure to oil was associated with increased diversity of antibacterial defense. Oiled eiders did not constitute a random sample, and superior diving ability as reflected by large foot area was at a selective disadvantage during oil spills. Thus, specific characteristics predispose eiders to oiling, with an adaptation to swimming, diving, and flying being traded against the costs of oiling. In contrast, individuals with a high degree of physiological plasticity may experience an advantage because their uropygial secretions counteract the effects of oil contamination.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Antibacterial and anatomical defenses in an oil contaminated, vulnerable seaduck

Møller

Laursen

Izaguirre

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) images taken of the front and back of oiled and control birds throughout the study showed that thermal conductance (heat loss) increased on the head, neck, back, and breast of oiled birds over the course of the study, indicating both the spread of oil over the body with preening and detrimental effects of loss of down feathers and feather integrity of contour feathers on heat loss in this diving bird. Horak et al (2020) externally oiled ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) with weathered DWH oil, with 7 ml applied to the breast, wing tips, and tail feathers for three consecutive days, and collected feathers. Thermography imagery was collected weekly for 4 weeks to investigate feather structure (quantified using a barbule clumping index) and thermoregulatory ability (characterized by internal body temperature and external surface temperature).…”

Section: Birdsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of the toxicology of oil in vertebrates: what we have learned following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Takeshita

Bursian

Colegrove

et al. 2021

Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B

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In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, a number of government agencies, academic institutions, consultants, and nonprofit organizations conducted lab-and field-based research to understand the toxic effects of the oil. Lab testing was performed with a variety of fish, birds, turtles, and vertebrate cell lines (as well as invertebrates); field biologists conducted observations on fish, birds, turtles, and marine mammals; and epidemiologists carried out observational studies in humans. Eight years after the spill, scientists and resource managers held a workshop to summarize the similarities and differences in the effects of DWH oil on vertebrate taxa and to identify remaining gaps in our understanding of oil toxicity in wildlife and humans, building upon the cross-taxonomic synthesis initiated during the Natural Resource Damage Assessment. Across the studies, consistency was found in the types of toxic response observed in the different organisms. Impairment of stress responses and adrenal gland function, cardiotoxicity, immune system dysfunction, disruption of blood cells and their function, effects on locomotion, and oxidative damage were observed across taxa. This consistency suggests conservation in the mechanisms of action and disease pathogenesis. From a toxicological perspective, a logical progression of impacts was noted: from molecular and cellular effects that manifest as organ dysfunction, to systemic effects that compromise fitness, growth, reproductive potential, and survival. From a clinical perspective, adverse health effects from DWH oil spill exposure formed a suite of signs/symptomatic responses that at the highest doses/concentrations resulted in multi-organ system failure.

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Effects of Deepwater Horizon oil on feather structure and thermoregulation in gulls: Does rehabilitation work?

Cited by 2 publications

References 32 publications

Antibacterial and anatomical defenses in an oil contaminated, vulnerable seaduck

Antibacterial and anatomical defenses in an oil contaminated, vulnerable seaduck

A review of the toxicology of oil in vertebrates: what we have learned following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

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