Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada; Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada; Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Sidney, BC V8L 3Y3, Canada.
Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada, Sidney, BC V8L 4B2, Canada.
Sci Total Environ. 2016 Dec 15;573:799-809. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.08.145. Epub 2016 Sep 2.
Chronic oil pollution poses substantial risks to marine birds and other marine wildlife worldwide. On Canada's Pacific coast, the negative ecological consequences to marine birds and marine ecosystems in general remain poorly understood. Using information relating to oil spill probability of occurrence, areas of overall importance to marine birds, and the at-sea distribution and density of 12 marine bird species and seven bird groups, including multiple Species at Risk, we undertook a spatial assessment of risk. Our results identify two main areas important to marine birds potentially at higher risk of exposure to oil. For individual bird species or species groups, those predicted to have elevated bird densities near the mainland and the northeast coast of Vancouver Island were identified as being at higher potential risk of exposure. Our results, however, should be considered preliminary. As with other anthropogenic stressors, in order to better understand and subsequently mitigate the consequences of chronic oil pollution on marine birds, improved information relating to marine birds and the occurrence of oil spills on Canada's Pacific coast is needed.
慢性石油污染对全球的海洋鸟类和其他海洋野生动物构成了重大风险。在加拿大的太平洋沿岸，海洋鸟类和海洋生态系统的负面生态后果仍未得到充分理解。我们利用与石油泄漏发生概率、对海洋鸟类整体重要性的区域以及 12 种海洋鸟类和 7 种鸟类群体（包括多个濒危物种）的海上分布和密度相关的信息，进行了风险的空间评估。我们的研究结果确定了两个对海洋鸟类重要的区域，这些区域可能面临更高的石油暴露风险。对于个别鸟类物种或物种群体来说，预测在大陆附近和温哥华岛东北海岸附近鸟类密度较高的地方，被认为有更高的潜在暴露风险。然而，我们的结果应被视为初步结果。与其他人为压力源一样，为了更好地了解并随后减轻慢性石油污染对海洋鸟类的影响，需要更好地了解加拿大太平洋沿岸的海洋鸟类以及石油泄漏的发生情况。
