bioindication

EROD activity and stable isotopes in seabirds to disentangle marine food web contamination after the Prestige oil spill

Enlace mardeaves Phalacrocorax aristotelis,PUBLICACIÓN CIENTÍFICA,REPOSITORIO ,,,,

Velando, A., Munilla, I., López-Alonso, M., Freire, J. & Pérez, C. EROD activity and stable isotopes in seabirds to disentangle marine food web contamination after the Prestige oil spill. Environmental Pollution 158, 1275–1280 (2010).

In this study, we measured via surgical sampling hepatic EROD activity in yellow-legged gulls from oiled and unoiled colonies, 17 months after the Prestige oil spill. We also analyzed stable isotope composition in feathers of the biopsied gulls, in an attempt to monitor oil incorporation into marine food web. We found that yellow-legged gulls in oiled colonies were being exposed to remnant oil as shown by hepatic EROD activity levels. EROD activity was related to feeding habits of individual gulls with apparent consequences on delayed lethality. Capture–recapture analysis of biopsied gulls suggests that the surgery technique did not affect gull survival, giving support to this technique as a monitoring tool for oil exposure assessment. Our study highlights the combination of different veterinary, toxicological and ecological methodologies as a useful approach for the monitoring of exposure to remnant oil after a large oil spill.

Assessing the effects of the Prestige oil spill on the European shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis): trace elements and stable isotopes

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Sanpera, C., Valladares, S., Moreno, R., Ruiz, X. & Jover, L. Assessing the effects of the Prestige oil spill on the European shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis): trace elements and stable isotopes. Science of the total environment 407, 242–249 (2008).

The Prestige oil spill resulted in the mortality of several seabird species on the Atlantic NW coast of Spain. Shag casualties were particularly relevant, since populations are resident in the area the whole year round and because of several features which make them highly vulnerable to environmental hazards. Ecological catastrophes give us the opportunity of collecting samples which, otherwise, would be difficult to obtain. We examine the potential of shag corpses as bioindicators of inorganic pollution and the possible factors of variability, such as biological traits (sex, age) or nutrition status. We determined trace elements (Hg, Se, Cr, Pb, Zn and Cu) and isotopic signatures (15N, 13C) in soft tissues (muscle, liver) and in primary feathers formed at different times (before and after the Prestige) in individuals of known sex and age, collected at the time of the Prestige disaster. These were compared with data from another group of shags trapped accidentally in fishing gear in 2005. Our results did not seem to be affected by sex or age on any of the analysed variables. The higher nitrogen isotopic signatures in  the soft tissues of the Prestige shags may be related to the nutrition stress caused by a poorer body condition,which is also reflected in increasing levels of some metals in the liver.This isotopic enrichment was also observed in newly forming feathers when compared to the old ones. On the other hand, the lower δ15N and Hg values in shag feathers from2005 point to a shift in feeding resources to prey of lower trophic levels.We found that feather features (being an inert tissue and having a conservative composition), if combined with careful dating and chemical analysis, offer a very useful tool to evaluate temporal and spatial changes in seabird ecology in relation to pollution events.

Oil pollution increases plasma antioxidants but reduces coloration in a seabird

Enlace mardeaves Larus michahellis,PUBLICACIÓN CIENTÍFICA,REPOSITORIO ,,,

Pérez, C., Lores, M. & Velando, A. Oil pollution increases plasma antioxidants but reduces coloration in a seabird. Oecologia 163, 875–884 (2010).

It has been suggested that condition-dependent signals may be a useful measure of environmental quality. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that oil pollution enhances oxidative stress and impairs expression of a carotenoid-based signal in a wild population of the yellowlegged gull (Larus michahellis). During the courtship period, a group of gulls were fed a supplementary diet containing heavy fuel oil from the Prestige oil spill and were compared with control gulls fed a similar supplementary diet without fuel oil. Blood levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the most toxic components of crude oils, were higher (30%) in the Prestige oil-fed gulls than in the control gulls. Plasma concentrations of vitamin E and carotenoids were also significantly higher in the Prestige oil-fed gulls (31 and 27%, respectively). Although, the plasma levels of lipid peroxidation markers were higher (13%) in gulls fed with Prestige oil than in the control gulls, these differences were not significant, possibly because of the small number of gulls analyzed. The red bill spot was significantly smaller (16%) in the oil-fed gulls than in the control individuals. This study provides the first experimental evidence that a carotenoid-based signal in a freeliving seabird is affected by exposure to oil pollution and is hence indicative of environmental quality. Since the yellow-legged gull belongs to a complex of species widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, the method described may constitute a useful tool for evaluating sublethal effects of oil spills in seabirds.

Sublethal effects on seabirds after the Prestige oil-spill are mirrored in sexual signals

Enlace mardeaves Larus michahellis,PUBLICACIÓN CIENTÍFICA,REPOSITORIO ,,

Perez, C., Munilla, I., Lopez-Alonso, M. & Velando, A. Sublethal effects on seabirds after the Prestige oil-spill are mirrored in sexual signals. Biology Letters 6, 33–35 (2010).

It has been suggested that sexual signals may be a useful measure of environmental quality as they represent the sum of environmental pressures on the animal. Accordingly, it has been proposed that carotenoid-based coloration may be especially valuable in monitoring and detecting the sublethal effects of toxic pollutants in the environment. Here, we evaluate whether the carotenoid-based coloration in the bill of adult yellow-legged gulls reflects oil-induced sublethal effects in breeding colonies affected by the Prestige oil spill. In 2004, we took blood samples from 27 adult birds at four insular breeding colonies located in the pathway of the Prestige oil spill. We measured the size of the red bill spot area and analysed plasma biochemical parameters indicative of sublethal effects of oil contamination in gulls, including glucose, total protein, creatinine, inorganic phosphorus, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and gamma-glutamyl transferase. We showed that the size of their red bill spot area was positively related to body condition, while negatively related with AST levels, an enzyme that is commonly used as an indication of hepatic damage in birds. Hence, the present study provides support for the idea that carotenoid-based colour integuments may be a useful measure of environmental quality.

Oiling of live gulls as a tool to monitor acute oil spill effects on seabirds

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Munilla, I. & Velando, A. Oiling of live gulls as a tool to monitor acute oil spill effects on seabirds. Ibis 152, 405–409 (2010).

Here we present a novel non-intrusive approach that can be useful to assess oil effects on seabirds based on the monitoring of oiling rates in live free-ranging gulls. To assess the feasibility of this method, we established a monitoring scheme to record oiling rates in live gulls in a coastal area affected by the Prestige oil spill disaster in Galicia (northwest Spain).