Project Information

Title: Quantifying Temporal Variation in Harlequin Duck Exposure to Exxon Valdez Oil 050777

Project Year and Number: 2005: 050777

Other Fiscal Years and Numbers for this Project: None

Principal Investigator (PI): Dan Esler (Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game)

Managing Agency: USGS

Assisting Personnel: None

Research Location: Prince William Sound.

Restoration Category: Research

Injured Resources Addressed: Harlequin Ducks

Abstract: Measurements of cytochrome P4501A (P450) have proven to be extremely useful for quantifying the degree of exposure to hydrocarbons following the EVOS for a number of vertebrates, including harlequin ducks. However, the ability to document interannual changes in exposure for harlequin ducks is eroded by dramatic differences in average P450 values between years, both for oiled and unoiled areas. There is no reasonable biological explanation for these widely differing values among years and we speculate that these are the result of differences within the laboratory. Because the P450 data are so critical for documenting changes in oil exposure over time, as well as for linking individual survival with oil exposure, we propose to concurrently reanalyze all archived HADU samples. We propose to conduct these analyses at the same time samples from March 2005 are being analyzed (this is already funded by EVOSTC). This approach will result in a database in which all samples can be compared both within and between years, allowing for confident interpretation of the level of exposure in oiled areas and changes in that exposure over time.


Proposal: View (79 KB)

Reports:
Final Report: View (99 KB)

Publications from this Project: None Available