SGER: Monitoring the Effects of the January 17, 2001 Oil Spill on Galapagos Marine Iguanas

SGER：监测 2001 年 1 月 17 日漏油事件对加拉帕戈斯海鬣蜥的影响

• 批准号: 0118069
• 负责人: Martin Wikelski
• 金额: $ 3.28万
• 依托单位: Princeton University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-06-15 至 2003-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0118069&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SGER; Monitoring; Effects; January; 17

On January 17, 2001, a medium size oil spill hit the Galapagos islands, Ecuador, a Natural World Heritage site. Although few animals were killed immediately, there is strong concern about the long-term impacts on the endemic wildlife. Long-lived species, like the marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) in particular, offer ideal model systems to study potential chronic effects of environmental pollution. Marine iguanas forage on intertidal algae and are therefore highly exposed to water-borne pollutants. I have 14 years of physiological and demographic data for the marine iguana population most strongly affected, on Santa Fe island. Furthermore, as part of my most recent field project, I collected baseline data on environmental stress (plasma corticosterone levels), algae quality and digestive endosymbionts up to two days before the oil spill (Jan 17, 2001). Ample pre-oil spill data are also available for El Nino, La Nina and 'regular' seasons. To quantify the impacts of oiling I propose to measure the following parameters immediately, 3 months, 6 months and 9 months after the spill: i) baseline and stress-induced corticosterone levels, ii) blood cell counts, iii) activity of hindgut endosymbiontic microbes, iv) standing algae crop, and v) survival rates of individually marked animals. Furthermore, an Ecuadorian assistant will conduct an experiment simulating an oil spill on captive marine iguanas at the Charles Darwin Research Station. This experiment will also allow us to test the feasibility of re-inoculating the hindgut of oiled marine iguanas with microbes from unaffected conspecifics. My detailed pre-spill data will allow me to quantify behavioral and physiological consequences of a severe environmental perturbation. These data will be immensely important for conservation and policy measures in Galapagos but will also be scientifically useful for global conservation issues.

2001年1月17日，一次中等规模的石油泄漏袭击了世界自然遗产厄瓜多尔的加拉帕戈斯群岛。虽然很少有动物被立即杀死，但人们强烈关注对地方性野生动物的长期影响。特别是像海鬣蜥（Amblyrhynchus cristatus）这样的长寿物种，为研究环境污染的潜在慢性影响提供了理想的模型系统。海鬣蜥以潮间带藻类为食，因此高度暴露于水传播的污染物。我有14年的生理和人口数据海洋鬣蜥人口受到最严重的影响，在圣达菲岛。此外，作为我最近的实地项目的一部分，我收集了漏油事件（2001年1月17日）前两天的环境压力（血浆皮质酮水平）、藻类质量和消化内共生体的基线数据。也有大量的关于厄尔尼诺、拉尼娜和“常规”季节的漏油前数据。为了量化CO2泄漏的影响，我建议在泄漏后立即、3个月、6个月和9个月测量以下参数：i）基线和应激诱导的皮质酮水平，ii）血细胞计数，iii）后肠内共生微生物的活性，iv）藻类作物，v）单独标记动物的存活率。此外，一名厄瓜多尔助理将在查尔斯达尔文研究站对圈养的海鬣蜥进行一项模拟石油泄漏的实验。这项实验也将使我们能够测试用未受影响的同种微生物恢复受油海洋鬣蜥后肠的可行性。我详细的泄漏前数据将使我能够量化严重环境干扰的行为和生理后果。这些数据对加拉帕戈斯的保护和政策措施非常重要，但对全球保护问题也有科学意义。