Presence of Disease in the Penguins and Skuas of Macquarie Island 2006
Citation
Australian Antarctic Data Centre (2022). Presence of Disease in the Penguins and Skuas of Macquarie Island 2006. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.4225/15/574bc4f16a33a accessed via GBIF.org on 2022-05-22.Description
Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 2555 See the link below for public details on this project. This study investigated the role of Antarctic skuas in the transmission of diseases to royal and king penguins on Macquarie Island. Using blood samples and cloacal swabs we assessed the parasites and viral diseases of the Antarctic skua and the two penguin species. Up to 150 subjects of each species were inspected. We compared the sub-Antarctic environment of Macquarie with previous work in a continental environment. By understanding the role that skuas play in the dynamics of diseases in Antarctica we are better able to define the role of humans in the system. The download file contains several excel spreadsheets, a readme document and a copy of a poster. Taken from the readme: "There are three files that simply enumerate the samples taken and the sample numbers associated with each individual skua or penguin. In general we took two faecal swabs; one was preserved in viral transport medium (medium streptomycin) and the other was preserved in BHB glycerin. Both sets were then frozen at -80 degrees C.Blood was drawn from the brachial vein and where possible, one drop was used to make a thin smear that was air dried. The rest of the blood sample was allowed to clot for at least 3 hours then spun down by centrifuge. The serum was drawn off and has been stored at -80. The RBC pellet was treated with Queen's lysis buffer and has been stored at 4 degrees C. The other three files are the results of testing for Newcastle Disease and Infectious Bursal Diisease. They are redundant files. One contains the results from both pathogens and the other two contain just the results from a single set of pathogens. Finally, there is a copy of a poster presentation from the International penguin conference in Hobart in 2007." Quality: 2018-08-29 - The original files was reformatted to fit OBIS/GBFI/IPT Biodiversity.AQ tracking standards, and a new datasheet "PenguinDisease_2006.csv" was created. The new dataset contains datasetID, occurrenceID, recordNumber, eventDate, year, month, day, decimalLatitude, decimalLongitude, locationID, locality, island, institutionCode, country, countryCode, lifeStage, samplingProtocol, occurrenceStatus, occurrenceRemarks, and basisOfRecord. The lowest taxonomical rank of the species identified that could be determined is provided, after matched in WoRMS (World Register of Marine Species).
Sampling Description
Method steps
Taxonomic Coverages
Geographic Coverages
OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN
OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN > MACQUARIE ISLAND
GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR
Bibliographic Citations
Contacts
originatorAustralian Antarctic Data Centre
metadata author
Australian Antarctic Data Centre
distributor
Atlas of Living Australia
CSIRO Ecosystems Services
Canberra
2601
ACT
AU
Jo Birch
administrative point of contact