Are Antarctic Specially Protected Areas safe from plastic pollution? a survey of plastic litter at Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, Antarctica
A number of studies have reported in the last decades the presence of plastics in the Southern Ocean, which are liable to reach the coast and accumulate on the Antarctic Continent. Despite this, there are few data on the amount of plastic pollution on Antarctic beaches below 60°S. Here we provide va...
Published in: | Journal of Hazardous Materials |
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China National Knowledge Infrastructure
2020
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11765/12884 |
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ftaemet:oai:repositorio.aemet.es:20.500.11765/12884 2024-06-23T07:44:58+00:00 Are Antarctic Specially Protected Areas safe from plastic pollution? a survey of plastic litter at Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, Antarctica Almela, Pablo González Herrero, Sergi 2020 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11765/12884 eng eng China National Knowledge Infrastructure https://dx.doi.org/10.13679/j.advps.2020.0029 Advances in Polar Science. 2020, 31(4), p. 284-290 1674-9928 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11765/12884 Licencia CC: Reconocimiento–NoComercial–SinObraDerivada CC BY-NC-ND info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Marine debris Plastic pollution Human impact Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) Management Antarctica info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2020 ftaemet https://doi.org/20.500.11765/1288410.13679/j.advps.2020.0029 2024-06-03T14:17:57Z A number of studies have reported in the last decades the presence of plastics in the Southern Ocean, which are liable to reach the coast and accumulate on the Antarctic Continent. Despite this, there are few data on the amount of plastic pollution on Antarctic beaches below 60°S. Here we provide valuable information about the presence of plastic debris in Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) and a hotspot for biodiversity. A total of 129 locations with between 1 and 5 items were recorded among the 3 survey sites on Byers Peninsula. Most of the observed items are likely to derive from fishing and local sources such as tourism and research activities. We discuss the potential impacts of their presence on local fauna and some of the consequences on the Antarctic ecosystem. From this survey of plastic accumulation in an ASPA, we propose the implementation of mitigation strategies, such as systematic monitoring of the abundance and distribution of plastic waste, in order to identify trends in marine debris and control the levels of plastic pollution in the Maritime Antarctic region. This work was supported by the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), Grant no. CTM2016-79741-R. PA is supported by a FPI-contract fellowship (Grant no. BES-2017 080558) from Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competividad (MINECO). Article in Journal/Newspaper Advances in Polar Science Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Livingston Island Polar Science Polar Science South Shetland Islands Southern Ocean ARCIMÍS (Archivo Climatológico y Meteorológico Institucional - AEMET, Agencia Estatal de Meteorología) Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic South Shetland Islands Livingston Island ENVELOPE(-60.500,-60.500,-62.600,-62.600) Byers ENVELOPE(-60.283,-60.283,-63.900,-63.900) Byers peninsula ENVELOPE(-61.066,-61.066,-62.633,-62.633) Journal of Hazardous Materials 363 447 456 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
ARCIMÍS (Archivo Climatológico y Meteorológico Institucional - AEMET, Agencia Estatal de Meteorología) |
op_collection_id |
ftaemet |
language |
English |
topic |
Marine debris Plastic pollution Human impact Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) Management Antarctica |
spellingShingle |
Marine debris Plastic pollution Human impact Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) Management Antarctica Almela, Pablo González Herrero, Sergi Are Antarctic Specially Protected Areas safe from plastic pollution? a survey of plastic litter at Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Marine debris Plastic pollution Human impact Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) Management Antarctica |
description |
A number of studies have reported in the last decades the presence of plastics in the Southern Ocean, which are liable to reach the coast and accumulate on the Antarctic Continent. Despite this, there are few data on the amount of plastic pollution on Antarctic beaches below 60°S. Here we provide valuable information about the presence of plastic debris in Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) and a hotspot for biodiversity. A total of 129 locations with between 1 and 5 items were recorded among the 3 survey sites on Byers Peninsula. Most of the observed items are likely to derive from fishing and local sources such as tourism and research activities. We discuss the potential impacts of their presence on local fauna and some of the consequences on the Antarctic ecosystem. From this survey of plastic accumulation in an ASPA, we propose the implementation of mitigation strategies, such as systematic monitoring of the abundance and distribution of plastic waste, in order to identify trends in marine debris and control the levels of plastic pollution in the Maritime Antarctic region. This work was supported by the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), Grant no. CTM2016-79741-R. PA is supported by a FPI-contract fellowship (Grant no. BES-2017 080558) from Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competividad (MINECO). |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Almela, Pablo González Herrero, Sergi |
author_facet |
Almela, Pablo González Herrero, Sergi |
author_sort |
Almela, Pablo |
title |
Are Antarctic Specially Protected Areas safe from plastic pollution? a survey of plastic litter at Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, Antarctica |
title_short |
Are Antarctic Specially Protected Areas safe from plastic pollution? a survey of plastic litter at Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, Antarctica |
title_full |
Are Antarctic Specially Protected Areas safe from plastic pollution? a survey of plastic litter at Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Are Antarctic Specially Protected Areas safe from plastic pollution? a survey of plastic litter at Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Are Antarctic Specially Protected Areas safe from plastic pollution? a survey of plastic litter at Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, Antarctica |
title_sort |
are antarctic specially protected areas safe from plastic pollution? a survey of plastic litter at byers peninsula, livingston island, antarctica |
publisher |
China National Knowledge Infrastructure |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11765/12884 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-60.500,-60.500,-62.600,-62.600) ENVELOPE(-60.283,-60.283,-63.900,-63.900) ENVELOPE(-61.066,-61.066,-62.633,-62.633) |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic South Shetland Islands Livingston Island Byers Byers peninsula |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic South Shetland Islands Livingston Island Byers Byers peninsula |
genre |
Advances in Polar Science Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Livingston Island Polar Science Polar Science South Shetland Islands Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Advances in Polar Science Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Livingston Island Polar Science Polar Science South Shetland Islands Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.13679/j.advps.2020.0029 Advances in Polar Science. 2020, 31(4), p. 284-290 1674-9928 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11765/12884 |
op_rights |
Licencia CC: Reconocimiento–NoComercial–SinObraDerivada CC BY-NC-ND info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.11765/1288410.13679/j.advps.2020.0029 |
container_title |
Journal of Hazardous Materials |
container_volume |
363 |
container_start_page |
447 |
op_container_end_page |
456 |
_version_ |
1802642611314360320 |