A preliminary spatial assessment of risk: Marine birds and chronic oil pollution on Canada's Pacific coast.
Chronic oil pollution poses substantial risks to marine birds and other marine wildlife worldwide. On Canada's Pacific coast, the negative ecological consequences to marine birds and marine ecosystems in general remain poorly understood. Using information relating to oil spill probability of occurrence, areas of overall importance to marine birds, and the at-sea distribution and density of 12 marine bird species and seven bird groups, including multiple Species at Risk, we undertook a spatial assessment of risk. Our results identify two main areas important to marine birds potentially at higher risk of exposure to oil. For individual bird species or species groups, those predicted to have elevated bird densities near the mainland and the northeast coast of Vancouver Island were identified as being at higher potential risk of exposure. Our results, however, should be considered preliminary. As with other anthropogenic stressors, in order to better understand and subsequently mitigate the consequences of chronic oil pollution on marine birds, improved information relating to marine birds and the occurrence of oil spills on Canada's Pacific coast is needed.
Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada; Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada; Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Sidney, BC V8L 3Y3, Canada. Electronic address: carolinehfox@gmail.com.
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Fox
Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada, Sidney, BC V8L 4B2, Canada.
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O'Hara
Department of Geography, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
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Bertazzon
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Sidney, BC V8L 4B2, Canada.
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Morgan
Department of Geography, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
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Underwood
Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada; Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Sidney, BC V8L 3Y3, Canada.
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Paquet
D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms; D001717:Birds / Q000378:metabolism*; D001955:British Columbia; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D059392:Petroleum Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
Canada; Chronic oil pollution; Marine birds; Small-scale oil discharges; Spatial risk assessment