Effects of diet and crude oil ingestion on growth and biochemistry of captive-reared pigeon guillemots (Cepphus columba)

• Main Author: Hovey, Andrew K.
• Other Authors: Roby, Daniel D., Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University. Graduate School
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English; unknown
• Published: Oregon State University
• Subjects: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill; Alaska; 1989; Pigeon guillemot > Food > Alaska > Price William Sound; Forage fishes > Effect of oil spills on > Alaska > Prince William Sound; Pigeon guillemot > Effect of oil spills on > Alaska > Price William Sound; Prudhoe Bay
• Online Access: https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/g445ch35z

The pigeon guillemot (Cepphus columba) population in Prince William Sound has failed to recover from declines that occurred both before and after the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS). Post-spill studies of pigeon guillemot breeding biology have identified three potential factors limiting recovery: (1) predation on eggs and nestlings; (2) declines in the proportion of high-lipid, schooling forage fish (sand lance [Ammodytes hexapterus], herring [Clupea pallasi], and capelin [Mallotus villosus]) in the diet; and (3) continued exposure to residual oil from the spill. This laboratory study with captive-reared pigeon guillemots at the Alaska SeaLife Center investigated two aspects of the species' biology that are relevant to restoration in the aftermath of EVOS. First, we investigated the role of dietary factors (prey type, quantity of food consumed, dietary fat content, and energy intake rate) in limiting the growth, development, survival, and fledging condition of nestling pigeon guillemots. The objective was to understand how changes in prey availability and prey quality might affect pigeon guillemot productivity. Second, we fed nestlings sublethal doses of weathered Prudhoe Bay crude oil (PBCO) and then measured several potential biomarkers of effects from this pollutant. These dose-response experiments were designed to (1) better understand the impact on nestling guillemots of petroleum hydrocarbons in food, (2) calibrate existing and potential biomarkers of exposure to PBCO in pigeon guillemots in a controlled, laboratory setting, and (3) develop better nondestructive biomarkers of exposure to PBCO in pigeon guillemots in particular, and seabirds in general. Results of feeding experiments indicated that most variation in nestling growth rates could be explained by variation in daily energy intake. The type of forage fish consumed, the lipid or protein content of the forage fish, and even the quantity of food consumed daily did not have as strong an effect on nestling guillemot growth as did daily energy intake. ...