Comparing photography and collection methods to sample litter in seabird nests in a coastal archipelago in the Southwest Atlantic

Different methods are used to quantify and classify litter in seabird nests, such as the collection method (CM) and the photography method (PM). We compared the CM and PM in 195 brown booby (Sula leucogaster) nests breeding in a coastal archipelago in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photographs...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin 2022-02, Vol.175, p.113357-113357, Article 113357
Main Authors: da Costa, Liz Nunes, Nascimento, Tatiane Pereira Xavier, Esmaeili, Yasmina Shah, Mancini, Patrícia Luciano
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Anthropogenic debris
Aquatic birds
Archipelagoes
Bioindicator
Birds
Brazil
Breeding
Brown booby
Endangered & extinct species
Environmental Monitoring
Litter
Litters (births)
Marine pollution
Method comparison
Methods
Nesting Behavior
Nests
Photography
Plastics
Seabirds
Threatened species
Waste Products - analysis
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Summary:Different methods are used to quantify and classify litter in seabird nests, such as the collection method (CM) and the photography method (PM). We compared the CM and PM in 195 brown booby (Sula leucogaster) nests breeding in a coastal archipelago in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photographs recorded 109 litter items in 44 nests (23% of nests), compared to 416 litter items in 82 nests (42%) by the CM. Pairwise comparison showed a significant difference in the variety and amount of litter items per nest, which was greater for CM (2.1 ± 1.1 categories, 2.13 ± 4.8 items) than for PM (1.5 ± 0.8 categories; 0.56 ± 1.6 items), in addition to a significant difference in the overall litter composition. The CM has been the most often used method to date. Although PM underestimates the amount and frequency of litter, we encourage its use when litter is abundant in nests and for threatened species. [Display omitted] •Photography method (PM) overall identified less litter than Collection method (CM)•Pairwise comparison showed PM underestimated both variety and quantity of litter•Litter composition of nests differed depending on method used•Nearly 50% of previous studies on litter in seabird nests only used the CM•PM should be used when litter is abundant in the nest and for threatened species
ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113357