Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29927976›Full record

ArticlePloS one2018

Gauging the influence of increased search effort on reporting rates of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) strandings following the deepwater horizon oil spill.

Jonathan L Pitchford, Michael Garcia, Eric E Pulis, Ashley Millan Ambert, Andrew J Heaton, Moby Solangi

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
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.

Jonathan L PitchfordGrand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Moss Point, Mississippi, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0003-1168-5087
Michael GarciaNOVACES LLC, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America.
Eric E PulisThe Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, Gulfport, Mississippi, United States of America.
Ashley Millan AmbertThe Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, Gulfport, Mississippi, United States of America.
Andrew J HeatonThe Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, Gulfport, Mississippi, United States of America.
Moby SolangiThe Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, Gulfport, Mississippi, United States of America.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The co-occurrence of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the northern Gulf of Mexico cetacean Unusual Mortality Event have raised questions about the stability of inshore bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) populations throughout the region. Several factors could have contributed to the ongoing event, but little attention has been paid to the potential effects of increased search effort and reporting of strandings associated with oil spill response activities, which were widespread for an extended period. This study quantified the influence of increased search effort by estimating the number of bottlenose dolphin strandings reported by oil spill responders and comparing monthly stranding rates with and without response-related records. Results showed that response teams reported an estimated 58% of strandings during the Active Response period within the study area. Comparison of Poisson rates tests showed that when responder-influenced stranding records were removed, the monthly stranding rates from the Active Response period (May 2010 -April 2014) were similar to the Post-Removal Actions Deemed Complete period (May 2013 -March 2015) (e.g., p = 0.83 for remote areas in Louisiana). Further, analyses using the Getis-Ord Gi* spatial statistic showed that when response-related stranding reports were removed from the Active Response period, significant spatial clustering of strandings (p < 0.05) was reduced by 48% in coastal Louisiana. Collectively, these results suggest that increased search effort resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response throughout remote portions of the Unusual Mortality Event geographic region had the capacity to increase reporting and recovery of marine mammal strandings to unusually high levels. To better understand how stranding data relates to actual mortality, more work is needed to quantify dolphin population size, population trends, and carcass detection rates including the role of search effort. This is vital for understanding the status of a protected species within the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Indexed as

Environmental MonitoringResearch ReportAlabamaAnimalsBehavior, AnimalBottle-Nosed DolphinConfidence IntervalsGeographyGulf of AmericaPetroleum Pollution

Identifiers

PMID29927976
PMCPMC6013114

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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.