Effects of Persistent Shoreline Oil on Reproductive Success, Chick Growth Ratesand Foraging Ecology of Black Oystercatchers. Restoration Project 93035. EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill Restoration Project Final Report

摘要

Because black oystercatchers (Haematopus bachmani) are completely dependent uponmarine shorelines for their life's requirements, The author undertood a study to determine the effects that exposure to oil persisting in fine sediments and mussel (Mytilus trossulus) beds had on breeding oystercatchers. The importance of mussels as a food source, and the reliance on fine sediment shorelines for foraging sites, indicated that oystercatchers could be exposed to oil persisting on shorelines. Hydrocarbon concentrations in the feces of chicks were elevated at sites where shoreline oil persisted into 1992 and 1993. Petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations in sediments collected from oystercatcher foraging sites were highest in Herring Bay, in Bay of Isles, and on northwest Knight Island. Exposure to persistent oil changed the ability of adults to provision their young, possibly lowered the body condition of renesting females, and lowered the ability of chicks to gain weight. Because areas of persistent shoreline oil exposure were restricted, widely distributed, and highly variable, effects on the black oystercatcher population, on the short term, were minimal.