Plastics everywhere: first evidence of polystyrene fragments inside the common Antarctic collembolan Cryptopygus antarcticus
There is evidence and serious concern that microplastics have reached the most remote regions of the planet, but how far have they travelled in terrestrial ecosystems? This study presents the first field-based evidence of plastic ingestion by a common and central component of Antarctic terrestrial f...
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsbl.2020.0093 2024-09-30T14:24:48+00:00 Plastics everywhere: first evidence of polystyrene fragments inside the common Antarctic collembolan Cryptopygus antarcticus Bergami, Elisa Rota, Emilia Caruso, Tancredi Birarda, Giovanni Vaccari, Lisa Corsi, Ilaria Italian National Antarctic Program Central European Research Infrastructure Consortium - European Research Infrastructure Consortium 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0093 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0093 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0093 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/-/media/journals/author/Licence-to-Publish-20062019-final.pdf https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Biology Letters volume 16, issue 6, page 20200093 ISSN 1744-9561 1744-957X journal-article 2020 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0093 2024-09-17T04:34:48Z There is evidence and serious concern that microplastics have reached the most remote regions of the planet, but how far have they travelled in terrestrial ecosystems? This study presents the first field-based evidence of plastic ingestion by a common and central component of Antarctic terrestrial food webs, the collembolan Cryptopygus antarcticus . A large piece of polystyrene (PS) foam (34 × 31 × 5 cm) covered by microalgae, moss, lichens and microfauna was found in a fellfield along the shores of the Fildes Peninsula (King George Island). The application of an improved enzymatic digestion coupled with Fourier transform infrared microscopy (µ-FTIR), unequivocally detected traces of PS (less than 100 µm) in the gut of the collembolans associated with the PS foam and documented their ability to ingest plastic. Plastics are thus entering the short Antarctic terrestrial food webs and represent a new potential stressor to polar ecosystems already facing climate change and increasing human activities. Future research should explore the effects of plastics on the composition, structure and functions of polar terrestrial biota. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic antarcticus Cryptopygus antarcticus King George Island The Royal Society Antarctic Fildes ENVELOPE(-58.817,-58.817,-62.217,-62.217) Fildes peninsula ENVELOPE(-58.948,-58.948,-62.182,-62.182) King George Island Biology Letters 16 6 20200093 |
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Open Polar |
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The Royal Society |
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crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
There is evidence and serious concern that microplastics have reached the most remote regions of the planet, but how far have they travelled in terrestrial ecosystems? This study presents the first field-based evidence of plastic ingestion by a common and central component of Antarctic terrestrial food webs, the collembolan Cryptopygus antarcticus . A large piece of polystyrene (PS) foam (34 × 31 × 5 cm) covered by microalgae, moss, lichens and microfauna was found in a fellfield along the shores of the Fildes Peninsula (King George Island). The application of an improved enzymatic digestion coupled with Fourier transform infrared microscopy (µ-FTIR), unequivocally detected traces of PS (less than 100 µm) in the gut of the collembolans associated with the PS foam and documented their ability to ingest plastic. Plastics are thus entering the short Antarctic terrestrial food webs and represent a new potential stressor to polar ecosystems already facing climate change and increasing human activities. Future research should explore the effects of plastics on the composition, structure and functions of polar terrestrial biota. |
author2 |
Italian National Antarctic Program Central European Research Infrastructure Consortium - European Research Infrastructure Consortium |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bergami, Elisa Rota, Emilia Caruso, Tancredi Birarda, Giovanni Vaccari, Lisa Corsi, Ilaria |
spellingShingle |
Bergami, Elisa Rota, Emilia Caruso, Tancredi Birarda, Giovanni Vaccari, Lisa Corsi, Ilaria Plastics everywhere: first evidence of polystyrene fragments inside the common Antarctic collembolan Cryptopygus antarcticus |
author_facet |
Bergami, Elisa Rota, Emilia Caruso, Tancredi Birarda, Giovanni Vaccari, Lisa Corsi, Ilaria |
author_sort |
Bergami, Elisa |
title |
Plastics everywhere: first evidence of polystyrene fragments inside the common Antarctic collembolan Cryptopygus antarcticus |
title_short |
Plastics everywhere: first evidence of polystyrene fragments inside the common Antarctic collembolan Cryptopygus antarcticus |
title_full |
Plastics everywhere: first evidence of polystyrene fragments inside the common Antarctic collembolan Cryptopygus antarcticus |
title_fullStr |
Plastics everywhere: first evidence of polystyrene fragments inside the common Antarctic collembolan Cryptopygus antarcticus |
title_full_unstemmed |
Plastics everywhere: first evidence of polystyrene fragments inside the common Antarctic collembolan Cryptopygus antarcticus |
title_sort |
plastics everywhere: first evidence of polystyrene fragments inside the common antarctic collembolan cryptopygus antarcticus |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0093 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0093 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0093 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-58.817,-58.817,-62.217,-62.217) ENVELOPE(-58.948,-58.948,-62.182,-62.182) |
geographic |
Antarctic Fildes Fildes peninsula King George Island |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Fildes Fildes peninsula King George Island |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic antarcticus Cryptopygus antarcticus King George Island |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic antarcticus Cryptopygus antarcticus King George Island |
op_source |
Biology Letters volume 16, issue 6, page 20200093 ISSN 1744-9561 1744-957X |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/-/media/journals/author/Licence-to-Publish-20062019-final.pdf https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0093 |
container_title |
Biology Letters |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
20200093 |
_version_ |
1811642319571517440 |