Canopy Accumulation: Are Seagrass Meadows a Sink of Microplastics?
A growing body of research is documenting the accumulation of microplastics within marine sediments around the world. The hydrodynamic influences of seagrasses in coastal environments are shown to increase sedimentation of finer particles and as a result there has been speculation that this attribut...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/oceans2010010 https://doaj.org/article/4e0383eb7d8748e0ab36cb3cf6b5091e |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:4e0383eb7d8748e0ab36cb3cf6b5091e 2024-01-14T10:09:12+01:00 Canopy Accumulation: Are Seagrass Meadows a Sink of Microplastics? Richard K. F. Unsworth Alex Higgs Bettina Walter Leanne C. Cullen-Unsworth Isabella Inman Benjamin L. Jones 2021-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/oceans2010010 https://doaj.org/article/4e0383eb7d8748e0ab36cb3cf6b5091e EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2673-1924/2/1/10 https://doaj.org/toc/2673-1924 doi:10.3390/oceans2010010 2673-1924 https://doaj.org/article/4e0383eb7d8748e0ab36cb3cf6b5091e Oceans, Vol 2, Iss 1, Pp 162-178 (2021) Zostera sediment marine microbeads pollution eelgrass Oceanography GC1-1581 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/oceans2010010 2023-12-17T01:46:01Z A growing body of research is documenting the accumulation of microplastics within marine sediments around the world. The hydrodynamic influences of seagrasses in coastal environments are shown to increase sedimentation of finer particles and as a result there has been speculation that this attribute will lead to seagrass meadows acting as a site of elevated microplastic contamination. To date a range of localised studies have provided conflicting answers to this hypothesis. Seagrass meadows provide multiple ecosystem services including vital support roles for a range of fisheries; therefore, there are considerable human health implications for understanding their role as sinks of microplastics. This research investigated the abundance and diversity of microplastics present in temperate North Atlantic seagrass meadow sediments relative to unvegetated sediments and examined how they correlate with the meadow structure and the sediment type. We also placed this data in the context of the current knowledge of microplastics in seagrass sediments through a global meta-analysis of published data. Eight seagrass meadows and adjacent unvegetated sites around the UK were sampled to test for the abundance of microplastic particles in the sediment. Microplastics were found in 98% of the samples, with fibres making up 91.8% of all microplastics identified. Abundance was recorded to overall be 215 ± 163 microplastic particles (MP) kg −1 Dry Weight (DW) of sediment in seagrass and 221 ± 236 MP kg −1 DW of sediment in unvegetated habitats. There were no significant differences found between the number of MP with respect to vegetation. We report evidence of the almost ubiquitous contamination of seagrass sediments with microplastics both in the UK and globally but find that the contamination reflects a general build-up of microplastics in the wider environment rather than becoming concentrated within seagrass as an enhanced sink. Microplastic build up in sediments is hypothesised to be the result of local hydrodynamics and ... Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Oceans 2 1 162 178 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Zostera sediment marine microbeads pollution eelgrass Oceanography GC1-1581 |
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Zostera sediment marine microbeads pollution eelgrass Oceanography GC1-1581 Richard K. F. Unsworth Alex Higgs Bettina Walter Leanne C. Cullen-Unsworth Isabella Inman Benjamin L. Jones Canopy Accumulation: Are Seagrass Meadows a Sink of Microplastics? |
topic_facet |
Zostera sediment marine microbeads pollution eelgrass Oceanography GC1-1581 |
description |
A growing body of research is documenting the accumulation of microplastics within marine sediments around the world. The hydrodynamic influences of seagrasses in coastal environments are shown to increase sedimentation of finer particles and as a result there has been speculation that this attribute will lead to seagrass meadows acting as a site of elevated microplastic contamination. To date a range of localised studies have provided conflicting answers to this hypothesis. Seagrass meadows provide multiple ecosystem services including vital support roles for a range of fisheries; therefore, there are considerable human health implications for understanding their role as sinks of microplastics. This research investigated the abundance and diversity of microplastics present in temperate North Atlantic seagrass meadow sediments relative to unvegetated sediments and examined how they correlate with the meadow structure and the sediment type. We also placed this data in the context of the current knowledge of microplastics in seagrass sediments through a global meta-analysis of published data. Eight seagrass meadows and adjacent unvegetated sites around the UK were sampled to test for the abundance of microplastic particles in the sediment. Microplastics were found in 98% of the samples, with fibres making up 91.8% of all microplastics identified. Abundance was recorded to overall be 215 ± 163 microplastic particles (MP) kg −1 Dry Weight (DW) of sediment in seagrass and 221 ± 236 MP kg −1 DW of sediment in unvegetated habitats. There were no significant differences found between the number of MP with respect to vegetation. We report evidence of the almost ubiquitous contamination of seagrass sediments with microplastics both in the UK and globally but find that the contamination reflects a general build-up of microplastics in the wider environment rather than becoming concentrated within seagrass as an enhanced sink. Microplastic build up in sediments is hypothesised to be the result of local hydrodynamics and ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Richard K. F. Unsworth Alex Higgs Bettina Walter Leanne C. Cullen-Unsworth Isabella Inman Benjamin L. Jones |
author_facet |
Richard K. F. Unsworth Alex Higgs Bettina Walter Leanne C. Cullen-Unsworth Isabella Inman Benjamin L. Jones |
author_sort |
Richard K. F. Unsworth |
title |
Canopy Accumulation: Are Seagrass Meadows a Sink of Microplastics? |
title_short |
Canopy Accumulation: Are Seagrass Meadows a Sink of Microplastics? |
title_full |
Canopy Accumulation: Are Seagrass Meadows a Sink of Microplastics? |
title_fullStr |
Canopy Accumulation: Are Seagrass Meadows a Sink of Microplastics? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Canopy Accumulation: Are Seagrass Meadows a Sink of Microplastics? |
title_sort |
canopy accumulation: are seagrass meadows a sink of microplastics? |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/oceans2010010 https://doaj.org/article/4e0383eb7d8748e0ab36cb3cf6b5091e |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Oceans, Vol 2, Iss 1, Pp 162-178 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-1924/2/1/10 https://doaj.org/toc/2673-1924 doi:10.3390/oceans2010010 2673-1924 https://doaj.org/article/4e0383eb7d8748e0ab36cb3cf6b5091e |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/oceans2010010 |
container_title |
Oceans |
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2 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
162 |
op_container_end_page |
178 |
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