Psychology Department, Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.
Biol Lett. 2012 Apr 23;8(2):218-21. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2011.0880. Epub 2011 Oct 19.
Animal tracking provides new means to assess far-reaching environmental impacts. In the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, a long-distance migrant, the northern gannet (Morus bassanus) suffered the highest oiling among beach-wrecked birds recovered. Analysis of bird-borne tracking data indicated that 25 per cent of their North American population from multiple colonies in eastern Canada migrated to the pollution zone. Findings contrasted sharply with available mark-recapture (band recovery) data. The timing of movement into and out of the Gulf indicates that immature birds would have absorbed most oil-induced mortality. Consequently, one of two outcomes is likely: either a lagged (likely difficult to assess) population decrease, or an undetectable population response buffered by age-related life-history adaptations. Tracking research is especially useful when little information on animal distributions in pollution zones is available, as is the case in the Gulf of Mexico. Ongoing research highlights current risks and conservation concerns.
动物追踪为评估深远的环境影响提供了新手段。在墨西哥湾“深水地平线”爆炸事件发生后，一种远距离迁徙的鸟类——北方塘鹅（Morus bassanus）在海滩上发现的受污染鸟类中遭受了最高的油污。对鸟类追踪数据的分析表明，来自加拿大东部多个殖民地的 25%的北美的种群迁徙到了污染区。这一发现与现有的标记重捕（带回收）数据形成鲜明对比。进入和离开墨西哥湾的时间表明，未成年鸟类会吸收大部分因石油引起的死亡率。因此，有两种可能的结果：要么是滞后的（可能难以评估）种群减少，要么是由于与年龄相关的生活史适应性而缓冲的不可察觉的种群反应。当关于污染区动物分布的信息很少时，追踪研究特别有用，就像在墨西哥湾一样。正在进行的研究突出了当前的风险和保护问题。
