Current projects:
Assessing Health, Status, and Trends in Northeastern U.S. Sea Turtle Populations
Sea Turtle Conservation Medicine Initiative
Marine Ecosystem Health Monitoring Using Sentinel Species
Health of North American Migratory and Neotropical Birds
In 1996, Wildlife Trust established an International Field Veterinary Program, and in 2000 its successor, the Conservation Medicine Program, which have both played key roles in defining the new discipline of conservation medicine. The Conservation Medicine Program at Wildlife Trust is directed by Dr. Alonso Aguirre, DVM, M.S., Ph.D. The program brings applied solutions to field practitioners of conservation medicine worldwide to address wildlife health in an ecological context. This is accomplished through transdisciplinary teams, innovative research, scientific excellence, and long-term monitoring of sentinel species. Our goal is to influence education and policy resulting in the conservation of biodiversity.
Recognizing that emerging and resurgent diseases such as West Nile encephalitis and monkey pox are spreading and affecting wildlife, human and domestic animal populations, we foresee the need for centers of excellence which will provide expertise to design and implement wildlife health monitoring systems and to provide continued training to conservation scientists regardless of their background around the globe. The expertise of the Wildlife Trust Conservation Medicine Program in conjunction with scientists of CCM are now equipped to provide the special tools needed by veterinarians and biologists as environmental physicians to effectively monitor the dynamics of natural ecosystems and diagnose problems caused by human impacts. Societies around the world are currently poorly equipped to deal with emerging diseases, lacking professionals with the transdisciplinary skills to link ecosystem, animal, and human health issues.
Current Projects:
Assessing Health, Status, and Trends in Northeastern U.S. Sea Turtle Populations
This project takes place within the New York Bioscape in the Peconic Bay of eastern Long Island . It has been established previously that this site, and other similar coastal areas of Northeastern U.S. , are crucial summer habitats for juvenile sea turtles. The majority of migrant sea turtle juveniles arriving each summer in New York waters are loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) and Kemp's ridley turtle
s (Lepidochelys kempii), but occasionally green turtles (Chelonia mydas ) and leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea ) are spotted. Throughout the season (June – early November), the loggerheads and Kemp's ridley turtles feed mostly on crabs and mollusks. All sea turtles need conservation protection. Kemp's ridley and leatherback turtles are considered endangered species, and loggerhead and green sea turtles are considered threatened species.
Peconic Bay turtles examined by Dr. Morreale in the 1980's appeared to be in excellent health. In the face of rapid human development of the region, however, it is necessary to assess the health, status, and trends of the sea turtle populations that depend upon New York Bioscape waters. The research team will be assisted by some of Long Island's most active pound net fishermen, because the turtles accidentally are caught and released unharmed by these fishermen. These accidental captures will facilitate collection of important biomedical samples. The study will assess the current health of Peconic Bay sea turtles, estimate population numbers of sea turtles that visit our waters each summer, and evaluate the progress being made in meeting recovery plan objectives for these endangered and threatened sea turtles. The results will both benefit sea turtle recovery management and provide a sentinel species view of contaminants, pathogens, and other stressors present in the Peconic Bay Estuary. Educational outreach through local papers and nature centers is anticipated. This project is supported in part by the National Marine Fisheries Service through a grant to Cornell University .
Sea Turtle Conservation Medicine Initiative
Sea turtles are being threatened by an epidemic of marine turtle fibropapillomatosis (FP). The disease is characterized by multiple cutaneous masses suspected of having a viral etiology. Although usually benign, these masses can nevertheless prove fatal to turtles. The tumors can grow under turtles' flippers, in their mouths, and on their eyes to such a large size that they impede the turtles' ability to swim, eat normally, and evade predators. FP can also produce nodules on all internal organs including the lungs, liver, and heart.
The disease has a worldwide, circumtropical distribution and has been observed in all major oceans, reaching epidemic proportions in some habitats. It seems likely that multiple causes are involved, including parasites, bacteria, environmental pollutants, UV light, changing water temperature, biotoxins, and chronic stress. Our studies have shown that pelagic turtles recruiting to near shore environments are free of the disease, suggesting the disease is acquired at or near the shore. Field observations support that prevalence of the disease has been associated with heavily polluted coastal areas, human areas of high density, agricultural run-off, and/or biotoxin-producing algae. One or more herpesviruses, a papillomavirus, and a retrovirus have been found associated with the tumors using electron microscopy and molecular techniques; however, the primary etiological agent remains to be isolated and characterized.
At Wildlife Trust, Dr. Aguirre has been studying sea turtle health, particularly fibropapillomatosis, for the past six years. He currently conducts research in Hawaii, New York, and Mexico and collaborates with scientists in Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, and other Latin American countries. He also trains scientists in sea turtle health, disease, and sampling and necropsy techniques.
Marine Ecosystem Health Monitoring Using Sentinel Species
Recent increases in infectious disease outbreaks, mass mortality events, harmful algal blooms, and unusual changes in some marine species population numbers point toward a decline in marine ecosystem health. Methods to assess marine ecosystem health, however, are lacking. The vast expanse of the oceans makes it difficult to assess its health. For the last five years Wildlife Trust has been developing a “sentinel species” project to determine if selected marine vertebrates could serve as indicators of marine health.
Antillean manatee: The development of a permanent monitoring program to document causes of mortality in manatees in Florida , Mexico , Belize , and the northern Caribbean will provide an important tool for conservation of the species. Several site visits have expanded Wildlife Trust field-based projects to integrate a regional health assessment plan for the Antillean manatee. Wildlife Trust will continue to strengthen collaborations, to collect specimens of manatees for our health monitoring efforts, and to train field biologists and veterinarians on the biology and conservation of manatees and other endangered species. To continue efforts in characterizing the health of manatees, animals captured in Belize and other sites will be tagged or re-tagged; sampled for blood, skin, and urine; clinically examined; a
nd measured for length, girth, blubber thickness, and other body characteristics. The blood parameters together with the clinical exam and body characteristics are the basis of health monitoring for the species.
La Plata dolphin: Working with Project Leader Pablo Bordino, who is studying the ecology and conservation of La Plata dolphins in Argentina , Wildlife Trust has trained veterinarians and biologists to collect important biological and pathological data and specimens to determine the health status of the species.
Health of North American Migratory and Neotropical Birds
The presence of disease in individuals and populations can be an indicator of ecosystem health. Wetland fragmentation and destruction are having many serious effects on survival of migratory waterfowl. The importance of wildlife diseases is recognized by private and governmental agencies in only a few countries. Wildlife Trust has ongoing collaboration with Mexican institutions regarding efforts to diagnose and control disease in declining waterfowl populations during their wintering migration. Increasing data on disease agents in a greater number of species and scattered locations raise questions regarding the possibilities of disease introduction and exchange between geographical areas. There is supported evidence of annual reintroduction of disease agents from areas south of the US by migratory birds such as avian influenza, equine encephalitis, and avian cholera. Questions regarding the over wintering and spreading of arboviruses such as West Nile virus to new location need to be answered. This project will establish a system of surveillance for currently known waterfowl diseases as an initial attempt to establish the baseline status of waterfowl diseases in Mexico.
This project incorporates both bird population management and protection with research and monitoring by establishing a surveillance system by which to study West Nile virus in Neotropical migratory birds and mosquito vectors in Mexico. This system, based on the ubiquitous presence of birds and their potential to indicate pathogen diffusion across the landmass through exposure, would provide a mechanism to detect novel pathogens in the environment, their geographic extent, and linkages to the landscape. This project attempts to document dissemination of West Nile virus through migratory corridors and the over wintering pathways for virus and vectors; use field data to provide the foundation for spatial analytical and forecasting models; and determine management implications for selected Neotropical migratory bird species and waterfowl.
Wildlife Trust's Conservation Medicine Program Theme is coordinating the effort to form a wildlife health cooperative in Mexico to be linked to other North American efforts. Following the appointment of key people under the new government led by President Fox, Wildlife Trust is positioned with the unique opportunity to work with wildlife officials in Mexico to help design, plan, and implement a conservation medicine program for Mexico using waterfowl populations as a model to emphasize development of local capacity. Mexico will be a priority country site for the Conservation Medicine Program Theme over the next few years.
Assessment of Marine Ecological Health in the Californias
This project aims to characterize baseline health parameters for key marine vertebrate species inhabiting California and the Peninsula of Baja California. The long-term threat to the biodiversity and the potential cause of extinction for hundreds of species in Baja California and the Sea of Cortez is that of unregulated tourism development. Proposed ecotourism projects have the potential to drastically impact the sustainability of these important coastal and island ecosystems, as well as the traditional livelihoods of the many coastal communities in Baja California.
A project known as Escalera Nautica (EN- Nautical Ladder) involves developing a system of 24 marinas accompanied by numerous golf courses and hotels along the coast of northwest Mexico to attract nautical tourism from the U.S. and to provide jobs in this region. The project also entails constructing roads that traverse the peninsula to transport yachts from the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Cortez . Habitat destruction, wildlife disturbance at breeding sites, ingestion of plastics and other debris, increased run-off, boat collisions, oil spills, and emerging diseases are among some of the anticipated threats to marine vertebrates subsequent to this development. Because many species of marine mammals, seabirds and sea turtles are large and long-lived animals that regularly visit or reproduce at the same sites year after year, and because these species are top trophic level consumers, they are excellent indicators of the health of an ecosystem.
Wildlife Trust is focusing on marine mammals, seabirds and sea turtles, which serve as bioindicators of marine ecosystem health. This involves conducting health assessments for individuals of wildlife populations, determining evidence of exposure to specific infectious agents, assessing the presence of emerging or reemerging disease agents (such as morbillivirus, Leptospira spp., Toxoplasma gondii, West Nile Virus, Newcastle disease, avian influenza, fibropapillomatosis and more) , and documenting concentrations of environmental pollutants. The baseline data collected will provide the basis of a long term monitoring program to evaluate health, diseases, and other conservation aspects of these marine vertebrates and results will be available for comparison to data collected in the future as the EN project progresses.
Conservation Medicine Centers of Excellence
Emerging pathogens and the diseases they cause are on the increase in Latin America , impacting the health of wildlife and resulting in drastic changes in species abundance. This, in turn, can affect ecosystem stability and resilience to assaults from changes in habitat and climate. Pathogen pollution has become a major threat to biodiversity conservation in Latin America .
Our overall goal for this project is to address this impending crisis. We aim to build the field and practice of conservation medicine in Latin America , and eventually expand on a broader basis. This project will: pull together professionals in relevant health and natural science disciplines to address these issues in an integrated fashion; conduct training courses to equip health and natural science students to address emerging diseases; develop graduate programs and research to train up and coming conservation medicine practitioners; lobby governments and research institutes to create courses and build facilities for conservation medicine; and ultimately, change the paradigm of good health to include the concept of healthy ecosystems.
Because there is minimal local infrastructure and professional preparation, we are creating Centers for Conservation Medicine incrementally. Current focus is on Mexico and Chile , with other countries to follow as resources and infrastructure allow. We will continue to build up these Centers of Excellence over the next four years as part of our objective of responding to emerging diseases that potentially threaten species survival and ecosystem function. Specifically, we plan to leverage construction of diagnostic labs, train personnel, set up sentinel species monitoring programs, identify new and re-emergent diseases, and together with local counterparts and trainees, devise strategies to break points of disease transmission among populations of different species. Ultimately, we seek to change the paradigm of conservation in Latin America to include the concept of healthy ecosystems as the basis of human and wildlife well being.