Data from: Long-term reproductive impairment in a seabird after the Prestige oil spill

• Main Authors: Barros, Álvaro, Álvarez, David, Velando, Alberto, Alvarez, D., Barros, A., Velando, A.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Life sciences; medicine and health care; seabird; long-term effects; Phalacrocorax aristotelis; Neovison vison; BACI; oil spills; north-west Iberian Peninsula; geo; envir; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.nd764

Large oil spills are dramatic perturbations on marine ecosystems, and seabirds are one of the worst affected organisms in such events. It has been argued that oil spills may have important long-term consequences on marine organisms, but supporting evidence remains scarce. The European shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) was strongly impacted at population level by the Prestige oil spill, the biggest spillage in the eastern North Atlantic. In this paper, we report on the long-term consequences on reproduction of this coastal seabird, using temporal and spatial replicated data (before–after–control–impact design). Our study revealed long-term reproductive impairment during at least the first 10 years since the Prestige oil spill. Annual reproductive success did not differ before the impact, but after the impact it was reduced by 45% in oiled colonies compared with unoiled ones. This is a rare documentation of long-term effects after a major oil spill, highlighting the need for long-term monitoring in order to assess the real impact of this type of disturbance on marine organisms. data-set used in study of long-term effects of the Prestige oil spill in the European shagThis file contains data on reproductive success, climatic variables values (NAO and SST), and presence/absence of American mink in the colonies of European shag needed for the analyses presented in our study. Information about periods (before/after Prestige) and areas (oiled/unoiled) is also presentedlong-term data set.xlsx