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

2001年1月17日，中等规模的石油泄漏袭击了厄瓜多尔的加拉帕戈斯群岛，这是一处自然世界遗产。尽管几乎没有动物被立即杀死，但人们对这种地方性野生动物的长期影响表示强烈担忧。长寿物种，特别是海洋鬣蜥，为研究环境污染的潜在慢性影响提供了理想的模式系统。海洋鬣蜥以潮间带藻类为食，因此高度暴露在水媒污染物中。我有圣达菲岛上受影响最严重的海洋鬣蜥种群14年的生理和人口统计数据。此外，作为我最近的实地项目的一部分，我收集了环境压力(血浆皮质酮水平)、藻类质量和消化内共生菌的基线数据，直到漏油事件发生前两天(2001年1月17日)。厄尔尼诺、拉尼娜和常规季节也有大量的漏油前数据。为了量化漏油的影响，我建议在漏油后立即、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动，iv)站立藻类作物，v)单独标记的动物的存活率。此外，一名厄瓜多尔助手将在查尔斯·达尔文研究站进行一项模拟圈养海洋鬣蜥漏油的实验。这项实验还将使我们能够测试将未受影响的同种微生物重新接种到被石油污染的海洋鬣蜥的后肠的可行性。我详细的泄漏前数据将使我能够量化严重环境扰动的行为和生理后果。这些数据将对加拉帕戈斯的保护和政策措施极为重要，但对全球保护问题也将具有科学意义。

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.