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PORTFOLIO OF PROJECTS Oceans and Health
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Oceans and Health Health Assessment of Marine Vertebrates in the Californias
This project aims to characterize baseline health parameters for key marine vertebrate species inhabiting California and the Peninsula of Baja California. The long-term threat to the biodiversity and the potential cause of extinction for hundreds of species in Baja California and the Sea of Cortez is that of unregulated development of tourism development. Proposed ecotourism projects have the potential to drastically impact the sustainability of these important coastal and island ecosystems, as well as the traditional livelihoods of the many coastal communities in Baja California. Increased ecotourism can lead to habitat destruction, wildlife disturbance at breeding sites, ingestion of plastics and other debris, increased run-off, boat collisions, oil spills, and emerging diseases are among some of the anticipated threats to marine vertebrates subsequent to this development. Because many species of marine mammals, seabirds and sea turtles are large and long-lived animals that regularly visit or reproduce at the same sites year after year, and because these species are top trophic level consumers, they are excellent indicators of the health of an ecosystem. We are focusing on California sea lions, brown pelicans and two species of sea turtles including the loggerhead turtle and the black turtle, which serve as sentinels of marine ecosystem health. This involves conducting health assessments for individuals of wildlife populations, determining evidence of exposure to specific infectious agents, assessing the presence of emerging or reemerging disease agents (such as morbillivirus, Leptospira spp., Toxoplasma gondii, West Nile Virus, Newcastle disease, avian influenza, fibropapillomatosis and more), and documenting concentrations of environmental pollutants. This past year, samples have been acquired from sea turtles, pelicans, and California sea lions. The baseline data collected will provide the basis of a long term monitoring program to evaluate health, diseases, and other conservation aspects of these marine vertebrates and results will be available for comparison to data collected in the future as the EN project progresses.
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Marine Ecosystem Health Monitoring Using Sentinel Species
Recent increases in infectious disease outbreaks, mass mortality events, harmful algal blooms, and unusual changes in some marine species population numbers point toward a decline in marine ecosystem health. Methods to assess marine ecosystem health, however, are lacking. The vast expanse of the oceans makes it difficult to assess its health. For the last five years Dr. Aguirre has been developing “sentinel species” projects to determine if selected marine vertebrates could serve as indicators of marine health. Twenty-five researchers, including vertebrate biologists, conservation biologists, veterinarians, epidemiologists, and ecosystem health specialists, participated in a Wildlife Trust workshop titled, “Marine Vertebrates as Sentinels of Marine Ecosystem Health,” October 2000. This workshop examined the feasibility of using marine vertebrates as sentinels to monitor marine ecosystem health. New ideas that emerged from the workshop have already been incorporated into interpretive graphics at the New England Aquarium and into a policy briefing that was held May 2001 in Washington, D.C. The September 2004 issue of the journal EcoHealth was dedicated to the theme of Oceans & Health, and featured a special section on sentinel species as a result of the 2000 workshop. Dr. Aguirre and his colleagues conduct ongoing research in the several areas, including: Antillean manatee La Plata dolphin
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Sea Turtle Conservation Medicine Initiative
Sea turtles are being threatened by an epidemic of marine turtle fibropapillomatosis (FP). The disease is characterized by multiple cutaneous masses suspected of having a viral etiology. Although usually benign, these masses can nevertheless prove fatal to turtles. The tumors can grow under turtles’ flippers, in their mouths, and on their eyes to such a large size that they impede the turtles’ ability to swim, eat normally, and evade predators. FP can also produce nodules on all internal organs including the lungs, liver, and heart. The disease has a worldwide, circumtropical distribution and has been observed in all major oceans, reaching epidemic proportions in some habitats. It seems likely that multiple causes are involved, including parasites, bacteria, environmental pollutants, UV light, changing water temperature, biotoxins, and chronic stress. Our studies have shown that pelagic turtles recruiting to near shore environments are free of the disease, suggesting the disease is acquired at or near the shore. Field observations support that prevalence of the disease has been associated with heavily polluted coastal areas, human areas of high density, agricultural run-off, and/or biotoxin-producing algae. One or more herpesviruses, a papillomavirus, and a retrovirus have been found associated with the tumors using electron microscopy and molecular techniques; however, the primary etiological agent remains to be isolated and characterized. At Wildlife Trust, Dr. Aguirre has been studying sea turtle health, particularly fibropapillomatosis, for the past 14 years. He currently conducts research in Hawaii, New York, and Mexico and collaborates with scientists in Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica and other Latin American countries. He also trains scientists in sea turtle health, disease, and sampling and necropsy techniques.
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Sea Turtle Ecology and Health: Assessing Health, Status, and Trends in Peconic Bay Sea Turtle Populations
Now in its fourth year, this project takes place within the New York Bioscape in the Peconic Bay of eastern Long Island. It has been established previously that this site, and other similar coastal areas of Northeastern U.S., are crucial summer habitats for juvenile sea turtles. The majority of migrant sea turtle juveniles arriving each summer in New York waters are loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) and Kemp’s ridley turtles (Lepidochelys kempii), but occasionally green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) are spotted. Peconic Bay turtles examined by Dr. Morreale in the 1980’s appeared to be in excellent health. In the face of rapid human development of the region, however, it is necessary to assess the health, status, and trends of the sea turtle populations that depend upon New York Bioscape waters. The research team will be assisted by some of Long Island’s most active pound net fishermen, because the turtles accidentally are caught and released unharmed by these fishermen. These accidental captures will facilitate collection of important biomedical samples. The study will assess the current health of Peconic Bay sea turtles, estimate population numbers of sea turtles that visit our waters each summer, and evaluate the progress being made in meeting recovery plan objectives for these endangered and threatened sea turtles. The results will both benefit sea turtle recovery management and provide a sentinel species view of contaminants, pathogens, and other stressors present in the Peconic Bay Estuary. This project is supported in part by the National Marine Fisheries Service through a grant to Cornell University.
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Conservation Medicine Without Borders
Migratory Bird Health in the United States and Mexico
The presence of disease in individuals and populations can be an indicator of ecosystem health. Wetland fragmentation and destruction are having many serious effects on survival of migratory waterfowl. The importance of wildlife diseases is recognized by private and governmental agencies in only a few countries. Wildlife Trust has ongoing collaboration with Mexican institutions regarding efforts to diagnose and control disease in declining waterfowl populations during their wintering migration. Increasing data on disease agents in a greater number of species and scattered locations raise questions regarding the possibilities of disease introduction and exchange between geographical areas. There is supported evidence of annual reintroduction of disease agents from areas south of the US by migratory birds such as avian influenza, equine encephalitis, and avian cholera. Questions regarding the over wintering and spreading of arboviruses such as West Nile virus to new location need to be answered. This project will establish a system of surveillance for currently known waterfowl diseases as an initial attempt to establish the baseline status of waterfowl diseases in Mexico. This project incorporates both bird population management and protection with research and monitoring by establishing a surveillance system by which to study West Nile virus in Neotropical migratory birds and mosquito vectors in Mexico. This system, based on the ubiquitous presence of birds and their potential to indicate pathogen diffusion across the landmass through exposure, would provide a mechanism to detect novel pathogens in the environment, their geographic extent, and linkages to the landscape. This project attempts to document dissemination of West Nile virus through migratory corridors and the over wintering pathways for virus and vectors; use field data to provide the foundation for spatial analytical and forecasting models; and determine management implications for selected Neotropical migratory bird species and waterfowl. Wildlife Trust’s Conservation Medicine Program Theme has been is coordinating the effort to form a wildlife health cooperative in Mexico to be linked to other North American efforts. Following the appointment of key people under the new government led by President Fox, Wildlife Trust is positioned with the unique opportunity to work with wildlife officials in Mexico to help design, plan, and implement a conservation medicine program for Mexico using waterfowl populations as a model to emphasize development of local capacity. Mexico will be a priority country site for the Conservation Medicine Program Theme over the next few years.
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Conservation Medicine Centers of Excellence
Emerging pathogens and the diseases they cause are on the increase in Latin America, impacting the health of wildlife and resulting in drastic changes in species abundance. This, in turn, can affect ecosystem stability and resilience to assaults from changes in habitat and climate. Pathogen pollution has become a major threat to biodiversity conservation in Latin America. Our overall goal for this project is to address this impending crisis. We aim to build the field and practice of conservation medicine in Latin America, and eventually expand on a broader basis. This project will:
Because there is minimal local infrastructure and professional preparation, we are creating Centers for Conservation Medicine incrementally. Current focus is on Mexico and Chile, with other countries to follow as resources and infrastructure allow. We will continue to build up these Centers of Excellence over the next four years as part of our objective of responding to emerging diseases that potentially threaten species survival and ecosystem function. Specifically, we plan to leverage construction of diagnostic labs, train personnel, set up sentinel species monitoring programs, identify new and re-emergent diseases, and together with local counterparts and trainees, devise strategies to break points of disease transmission among populations of different species. Ultimately, we seek to change the paradigm of conservation in Latin America to include the concept of healthy ecosystems as the basis of human and wildlife well being.
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Endangered Species and Ecosystems at Risk: Protecting Biodiversity by Assessing the Health of Selected Protected Areas in Mexico
Disease can be a threat to biodiversity. There has been a growing emergence of diseases that jump between species, including wildlife, domesticated animals, and humans. It is believed, for instance, that Ebola virus, which broke out in villages several years ago in Zaire, survives in isolated primate populations and periodically emerges to cause die-offs of human and gorilla populations. The lethal hantavirus of the American southwest moves from rodents to people. What is often overlooked, in discussion of the health consequences to humans, is that critically endangered wildlife species are at grave risk of extinction by disease outbreaks. As habitat becomes more compressed, with migration routes cut off, small species gene pools are stranded in isolated, habitat fragments. The result is that wildlife is more vulnerable than ever to the possibility that a new disease could wipe out a local population. The health problems observed in free-range wildlife today, resemble those seen in captive wildlife. Species now are vulnerable to encroachment, malnutrition, environmental pollutants, and epidemics from domestic animals and humans. Furthermore, the continuous degradation of ecosystems is leading to increased stress, immunosuppression and, therefore, greater susceptibility to disease. Disease can be catastrophic to a diminished and already stressed population. In many instances, it has become the leading factor causing local extinctions. The strategies of the new field of conservation medicine include long-term monitoring, health assessment, and interventions to protect species at risk. We particularly must minimize the threat of any potentially catastrophic disease outbreaks resulting from our own changes to the environment. Current and future diagnostic molecular techniques offer new opportunities to identify tools for the management and possible treatment of diseases in endangered species. Long-term monitoring of protected ecosystems with varying degrees of pollution will answer some of the questions related to causes of wildlife diseases and their correlation to human environments. The biological diversity found in Mexico’s national parks, wilderness and other protected areas is one of the highest in the world. However, the health, and therefore the long-term viability of protected ecosystems is unknown, from the Sonoran desert in the north to Sierra Lacandona in the south, and from the relatively pristine Islas del Golfo de California in the Baja peninsula to Ria Celestun in the Yucatan peninsula. Wildlife Trust seeks to assess the health status of representative protected areas throughout Mexico. We will do this by studying the health of carefully selected species that can serve as sentinels of the viability of whole ecosystems. Specifically, we would like to focus on the following wildlife populations and sites:
The data collected on the parasites, bacteria, and viruses harbored by the sentinel species will provide the basis for a long term monitoring program, not only to identify current health threats to species survival, but also to have a baseline of current health so that we can evaluate the possible influx of new pathogens in the future. The means to establish such a program was a direct result of a generous grant received last year from the Overbrook Foundation enabling Wildlife Trust to build capacity within Mexico.
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Project Partnerships:
Conflict Resolution Between People and Wildlife: Ecology and Health of the Northern Andean Deer, Tarucas and Guanacos
The taruca or Northern Andean deer is a little studied endangered species with no more than 700 animals surviving in the wild. These few animals are in conflict with local farmers in the foothills of the Andes in northern Chile. Now in its fourth year, the aims of the study are to describe parameters of ecology, physiology, and health of taruca populations in areas where they are sympatric with domestic livestock and guanaco. It will also examine the disease relationships between other wild ungulates and South American camelids. This project will allow Dr. Bonacic to compile information about the ecology and magnitude of the conflict between agricultural animals and wild herbivores and will provide first-time ever information about diseases and physiological parameters. A GIS system where the information is being input will be the keystone for a larger and more holistic project in this ecosystem. The results of this project will enable conservation scientists to better understand human/wildlife conflict in terms of habitat, agricultural land use, resource competition, and disease transmission.
Health Evaluation of the Flamingo Populations in Bolivia
The purpose of this study is to assess the health status and pathogen exposure of the wild flamingos of Bolivia and the health of the environment in which the animals live. We will monitor birds for avian influenza virus, WNV and other emerging pathogens. We hope to find risk factors and clues about the flamingo population declines and, by comparing before and after breeding season results, provide the first insights into how the flamingos arrive at the breeding grounds and the effect of grouping on disease transmission during breeding. |
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