Department of Biology & Institute for Great Lakes Research, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859, United States.
Department of Biology & Institute for Great Lakes Research, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859, United States.
Sci Total Environ. 2018 Feb 15;615:123-130. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.09.232. Epub 2017 Sep 28.
Contamination of recreational beaches due to fecal waste from gulls complicates beach monitoring and may pose a risk to public health. Gulls that feed at human waste sites may ingest human fecal microorganisms associated with that waste. If these gulls also visit beaches, they may serve as vectors, transporting fecal microorganisms to the beach where they may subsequently contaminate sand and water. In this study, samples collected from landfills, treated wastewater storage lagoons, and public beaches demonstrated a spatial and temporal overlap of markers for gull and human-associated microorganisms. In addition, markers for gull, fecal indicator bacteria, and the human-associated marker, HF183, were detected in gull feces and cloacae samples. Further, HF183 was detected in cloacae samples from gulls that were documented by radio-telemetry traveling between human waste sites and public beaches. This study highlights the potential for gulls that visit human waste sites to disperse human-associated microorganisms in the beach landscape.
海鸥粪便中的粪便废物污染了休闲海滩，这使得海滩监测变得复杂，并且可能对公众健康构成威胁。在人类废物场所觅食的海鸥可能会摄入与该废物相关的人类粪便微生物。如果这些海鸥也访问海滩，它们可能充当载体，将粪便微生物运送到海滩，随后可能会污染沙子和水。在这项研究中，从垃圾填埋场、处理过的废水储存池和公共海滩收集的样本表明，海鸥和人类相关微生物的标志物在空间和时间上重叠。此外，在海鸥粪便和泄殖腔样本中检测到了海鸥、粪便指示菌和人类相关标志物 HF183。此外，在通过无线电遥测记录到在人类废物场所和公共海滩之间旅行的海鸥的泄殖腔样本中检测到了 HF183。本研究强调了访问人类废物场所的海鸥在海滩景观中散布与人类相关的微生物的潜力。
