1
|
Linnehan BK, Gomez FM, Huston SM, Hsu A, Takeshita R, Colegrove KM, Harms CA, Barratclough A, Deming AC, Rowles TK, Musser WB, Zolman ES, Wells RS, Jensen ED, Schwacke LH, Smith CR. Cardiac assessments of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Northern Gulf of Mexico following exposure to Deepwater Horizon oil. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0261112. [PMID: 34905585 PMCID: PMC8670661 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill profoundly impacted the health of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Barataria Bay, LA (BB). To comprehensively assess the cardiac health of dolphins living within the DWH oil spill footprint, techniques for in-water cardiac evaluation were refined with dolphins cared for by the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program in 2018 and applied to free-ranging bottlenose dolphins in BB (n = 34) and Sarasota Bay, Florida (SB) (n = 19), a non-oiled reference population. Cardiac auscultation detected systolic murmurs in the majority of dolphins from both sites (88% BB, 89% SB) and echocardiography showed most of the murmurs were innocent flow murmurs attributed to elevated blood flow velocity [1]. Telemetric six-lead electrocardiography detected arrhythmias in BB dolphins (43%) and SB dolphins (31%), all of which were considered low to moderate risk for adverse cardiac events. Echocardiography showed BB dolphins had thinner left ventricular walls, with significant differences in intraventricular septum thickness at the end of diastole (p = 0.002), and left ventricular posterior wall thickness at the end of diastole (p = 0.033). BB dolphins also had smaller left atrial size (p = 0.004), higher prevalence of tricuspid valve prolapse (p = 0.003), higher prevalence of tricuspid valve thickening (p = 0.033), and higher prevalence of aortic valve thickening (p = 0.008). Two dolphins in BB were diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension based on Doppler echocardiography-derived estimates and supporting echocardiographic findings. Histopathology of dolphins who stranded within the DWH oil spill footprint showed a significantly higher prevalence of myocardial fibrosis (p = 0.003), regardless of age, compared to dolphins outside the oil spill footprint. In conclusion, there were substantial cardiac abnormalities identified in BB dolphins which may be related to DWH oil exposure, however, future work is needed to rule out other hypotheses and further elucidate the connection between oil exposure, pulmonary disease, and the observed cardiac abnormalities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Barbara K. Linnehan
- National Marine Mammal Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Forrest M. Gomez
- National Marine Mammal Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Sharon M. Huston
- San Diego Veterinary Cardiology, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Adonia Hsu
- San Diego Veterinary Cardiology, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Ryan Takeshita
- National Marine Mammal Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Kathleen M. Colegrove
- Zoological Pathology Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Brookfield, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Craig A. Harms
- North Carolina State University, Center for Marine Sciences and Technology, Morehead City, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Ashley Barratclough
- National Marine Mammal Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Alissa C. Deming
- Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Dauphin Island, Alabama, United States of America
| | - Teri K. Rowles
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Protected Resources, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Whitney B. Musser
- National Marine Mammal Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Eric S. Zolman
- National Marine Mammal Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Randall S. Wells
- Chicago Zoological Society’s Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, c/o Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, Florida, United States of America
| | - Eric D. Jensen
- U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program, Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Lori H. Schwacke
- National Marine Mammal Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Cynthia R. Smith
- National Marine Mammal Foundation, San Diego, California, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Counihan TD, Waite IR, Casper AF, Ward DL, Sauer JS, Irwin ER, Chapman CG, Ickes BS, Paukert CP, Kosovich JJ, Bayer JM. Can data from disparate long-term fish monitoring programs be used to increase our understanding of regional and continental trends in large river assemblages? PLoS One 2018; 13:e0191472. [PMID: 29364953 PMCID: PMC5783367 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0191472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2017] [Accepted: 12/04/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding trends in the diverse resources provided by large rivers will help balance tradeoffs among stakeholders and inform strategies to mitigate the effects of landscape scale stressors such as climate change and invasive species. Absent a cohesive coordinated effort to assess trends in important large river resources, a logical starting point is to assess our ability to draw inferences from existing efforts. In this paper, we use a common analytical framework to analyze data from five disparate fish monitoring programs to better understand the nature of spatial and temporal trends in large river fish assemblages. We evaluated data from programs that monitor fishes in the Colorado, Columbia, Illinois, Mississippi, and Tallapoosa rivers using non-metric dimensional scaling ordinations and associated tests to evaluate trends in fish assemblage structure and native fish biodiversity. Our results indicate that fish assemblages exhibited significant spatial and temporal trends in all five of the rivers. We also document native species diversity trends that were variable within and between rivers and generally more evident in rivers with higher species richness and programs of longer duration. We discuss shared and basin-specific landscape level stressors. Having a basic understanding of the nature and extent of trends in fish assemblages is a necessary first step towards understanding factors affecting biodiversity and fisheries in large rivers.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Timothy D. Counihan
- U.S. Geological Survey, Western Fisheries Research Center, Columbia River Research Laboratory, Cook, Washington, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Ian R. Waite
- U.S. Geological Survey, Oregon Water Science Center, Portland, Oregon, United States of America
| | - Andrew F. Casper
- Illinois Natural History Survey, Illinois River Biological Station, Havana, Illinois, United States of America
| | - David L. Ward
- U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Jennifer S. Sauer
- U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Elise R. Irwin
- U.S. Geological Survey, Alabama Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, United States of America
| | - Colin G. Chapman
- Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Ocean Salmon and Columbia River Program, Clackamas, Oregon, United States of America
| | - Brian S. Ickes
- U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Craig P. Paukert
- U.S. Geological Survey, Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, The School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, United States of America
| | - John J. Kosovich
- U.S. Geological Survey, Core Science Analytics, Synthesis, & Libraries, Lakewood, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Jennifer M. Bayer
- U.S. Geological Survey, Northwest Region & Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring Partnership, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
de Souza LS, Godwin JC, Renshaw MA, Larson E. Environmental DNA (eDNA) Detection Probability Is Influenced by Seasonal Activity of Organisms. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0165273. [PMID: 27776150 PMCID: PMC5077074 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2016] [Accepted: 10/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Environmental DNA (eDNA) holds great promise for conservation applications like the monitoring of invasive or imperiled species, yet this emerging technique requires ongoing testing in order to determine the contexts over which it is effective. For example, little research to date has evaluated how seasonality of organism behavior or activity may influence detection probability of eDNA. We applied eDNA to survey for two highly imperiled species endemic to the upper Black Warrior River basin in Alabama, US: the Black Warrior Waterdog (Necturus alabamensis) and the Flattened Musk Turtle (Sternotherus depressus). Importantly, these species have contrasting patterns of seasonal activity, with N. alabamensis more active in the cool season (October-April) and S. depressus more active in the warm season (May-September). We surveyed sites historically occupied by these species across cool and warm seasons over two years with replicated eDNA water samples, which were analyzed in the laboratory using species-specific quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays. We then used occupancy estimation with detection probability modeling to evaluate both the effects of landscape attributes on organism presence and season of sampling on detection probability of eDNA. Importantly, we found that season strongly affected eDNA detection probability for both species, with N. alabamensis having higher eDNA detection probabilities during the cool season and S. depressus have higher eDNA detection probabilities during the warm season. These results illustrate the influence of organismal behavior or activity on eDNA detection in the environment and identify an important role for basic natural history in designing eDNA monitoring programs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lesley S. de Souza
- Department of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, United States of America
- Science and Education, The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - James C. Godwin
- Alabama Natural Heritage Program®, Museum of Natural History, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, United States of America
| | - Mark A. Renshaw
- Oceanic Institute at Hawai’i Pacific University, Shrimp Department, Waimanalo, Hawaii, United States of America
| | - Eric Larson
- Department of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|