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Nancy C. Coon

Publications and source records attributed to Nancy C. Coon.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1981

Response of adult mallard ducks to ingested South Louisiana crude oil

Adult mallards ( Anas platyrhynchos ) were fed South Louisiana crude oil as 0.25 and 2.5% of the total diet for 26 weeks to assess the chronic effects of oil ingestion. Additional birds were fed diets containing either 1.0% of a paraffin mixture or clean feed. No birds died during the study, nor were their body weights significantly depressed. Oviduct weight at necropsy was greatly reduced in hens on the 2.5% oil diet and also was significantly reduced in hens on the 0.25% oil diet when compared with controls. Male reproductive organs were not atrophied by treatment. Hens on oil-treated diets laid fewer eggs than those on the control diet; however, eggs from treated hens hatched as well as those from controls when artificially incubated. Pathological or biochemical alterations were no greater in the treated birds than in controls.

Environmental Research↗
USGS1979

Effects of No. 2 fuel oil on hatchability of marine and estuarine bird eggs

Eggs of Louisiana herons, sandwich terns, and laughing gulls were oiled with either 0, 5, or 20 μl of No. 2 fuel oil in the field and in the laboratory. After 5 days of natural incubation, field-oiled and control eggs were opened and embryonic mortality was determined. No. 2 fuel oil produce'd 61% mortality in Louisiana heron eggs, 56% in sandwich tern eggs, and 83% in laughing gull eggs. Hatching success of artificially incubated, oiled eggs appeared to be lower than in control eggs. However, stress during shipment to the laboratory and problems within the incubator probably contributed to reduced hatchability in both groups.

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxico↗
USGS1979

No. 2 fuel oil decreases embryonic survival of great black-backed gulls

The great black-backed gull (Larus marinus ) is widespread in the northern hemisphere, breeding south to Britain and Ireland on the European side of the Atlantic and to Long Island in the United States where populations have increased markedly during the last 50 years (DRURY 1979). With growing exploitation of oil resources, seabird populations are being increasingly threatened by accidental oiling of individuals and the subsequent contamination of their eggs and young. It is generally agreed that gulls and terns, which spend much of their time airborne, are less vulnerable to oil pollution than alcids and seaducks (BOURNE 1968, VERMEER AND ANWEILER 1975). Nevertheless, oiled great black-backed gulls were sighted after the Argo Merchant spill off Nantucket Island in December 1976, demonstrating that this species of gull can be affected by surface oil (GROSE AND MATTSON 1977). In this paper we wish to report results of two concurrent studies in which eggs of the great black-backed gull were externally contaminated with No. 2 fuel oil.

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxico↗