Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26370196›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental monitoring and assessment2015

Identifying avian sources of faecal contamination using sterol analysis.

Megan L Devane, David Wood, Andrew Chappell, Beth Robson, Jenny Webster-Brown, Brent J Gilpin

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental monitoring and assessment, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Multicentury perspective assessing the sustainability of the historical harvest of seaducks.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2019
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Megan L DevaneInstitute of Environmental Science and Research Limited, Christchurch Science Centre, PO Box 29-181, Christchurch, New Zealand. megan.devane@esr.cri.nz.
David WoodInstitute of Environmental Science and Research Limited, Christchurch Science Centre, PO Box 29-181, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Andrew ChappellInstitute of Environmental Science and Research Limited, Christchurch Science Centre, PO Box 29-181, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Beth RobsonInstitute of Environmental Science and Research Limited, Christchurch Science Centre, PO Box 29-181, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Jenny Webster-BrownWaterways Centre for Freshwater Management, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Brent J GilpinInstitute of Environmental Science and Research Limited, Christchurch Science Centre, PO Box 29-181, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Discrimination of the source of faecal pollution in water bodies is an important step in the assessment and mitigation of public health risk. One tool for faecal source tracking is the analysis of faecal sterols which are present in faeces of animals in a range of distinctive ratios. Published ratios are able to discriminate between human and herbivore mammal faecal inputs but are of less value for identifying pollution from wildfowl, which can be a common cause of elevated bacterial indicators in rivers and streams. In this study, the sterol profiles of 50 avian-derived faecal specimens (seagulls, ducks and chickens) were examined alongside those of 57 ruminant faeces and previously published sterol profiles of human wastewater, chicken effluent and animal meatwork effluent. Two novel sterol ratios were identified as specific to avian faecal scats, which, when incorporated into a decision tree with human and herbivore mammal indicative ratios, were able to identify sterols from avian-polluted waterways. For samples where the sterol profile was not consistent with herbivore mammal or human pollution, avian pollution is indicated when the ratio of 24-ethylcholestanol/(24-ethylcholestanol + 24-ethylcoprostanol + 24-ethylepicoprostanol) is ≥0.4 (avian ratio 1) and the ratio of cholestanol/(cholestanol + coprostanol + epicoprostanol) is ≥0.5 (avian ratio 2). When avian pollution is indicated, further confirmation by targeted PCR specific markers can be employed if greater confidence in the pollution source is required. A 66% concordance between sterol ratios and current avian PCR markers was achieved when 56 water samples from polluted waterways were analysed.

Indexed as

BirdsAnimalsBiomarkersCholestanolDecision TreesDNAEnvironmental MonitoringFecesFresh WaterGas Chromatography-Mass SpectrometryHumansPolymerase Chain ReactionSterolsWater PollutionBiomarkersCholestanolDNASterols24-EthylcholestanolAvianCholestanolDecision treeSterolsWater pollution

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.