Microplastics in gentoo penguins from the Antarctic region
There is growing evidence that microplastic pollution (<5 mm in size) is now present in virtually all marine ecosystems, even in remote areas, such as the Arctic and the Antarctic. Microplastics have been found in water and sediments of the Antarctic but little is known of their ingestion by high...
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:525310 2023-05-15T13:41:44+02:00 Microplastics in gentoo penguins from the Antarctic region Bessa, Filipa Ratcliffe, Norman Otero, Vanessa Sobral, Paula Marques, João C. Waluda, Claire M. Trathan, Phil N. Xavier, José C. 2019-10-02 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/525310/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/525310/1/s41598-019-50621-2.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-50621-2 en eng https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/525310/1/s41598-019-50621-2.pdf Bessa, Filipa; Ratcliffe, Norman orcid:0000-0002-3375-2431 Otero, Vanessa; Sobral, Paula; Marques, João C.; Waluda, Claire M. orcid:0000-0003-3517-5233 Trathan, Phil N. orcid:0000-0001-6673-9930 Xavier, José C. orcid:0000-0002-9621-6660 . 2019 Microplastics in gentoo penguins from the Antarctic region. Scientific Reports, 9, 14191. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50621-2 <https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50621-2> cc_by_4 CC-BY Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2019 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50621-2 2023-02-04T19:49:22Z There is growing evidence that microplastic pollution (<5 mm in size) is now present in virtually all marine ecosystems, even in remote areas, such as the Arctic and the Antarctic. Microplastics have been found in water and sediments of the Antarctic but little is known of their ingestion by higher predators and mechanisms of their entry into Antarctic marine food webs. The goal of this study was to assess the occurrence of microplastics in a top predator, the gentoo penguin Pygoscelis papua from the Antarctic region (Bird Island, South Georgia and Signy Island, South Orkney Islands) and hence assess the potential for microplastic transfer through Antarctic marine food webs. To achieve this, the presence of microplastics in scats (as a proof of ingestion) was investigated to assess the viability of a non-invasive approach for microplastic analyses in Antarctic penguins. A total of 80 penguin scats were collected and any microplastics they contained were extracted. A total of 20% of penguin scats from both islands contained microplastics, consisting mainly of fibers and fragments with different sizes and polymer composition (mean abundance of microplastics: 0.23 ± 0.53 items individual−1 scat, comprising seven different polymers), which were lower values than those found for seabirds in other regions worldwide. No significant differences in microplastic numbers in penguin scats between the two regions were detected. These data highlight the need for further assessment of the levels of microplastics in this sensitive region of the planet, specifically studies on temporal trends and potential effects on penguins and other organisms in the Antarctic marine food web. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Bird Island Gentoo penguin Pygoscelis papua Signy Island South Orkney Islands Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Arctic Antarctic The Antarctic South Orkney Islands ENVELOPE(-45.500,-45.500,-60.583,-60.583) Bird Island ENVELOPE(-38.060,-38.060,-54.004,-54.004) Signy Island ENVELOPE(-45.595,-45.595,-60.708,-60.708) Scientific Reports 9 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
There is growing evidence that microplastic pollution (<5 mm in size) is now present in virtually all marine ecosystems, even in remote areas, such as the Arctic and the Antarctic. Microplastics have been found in water and sediments of the Antarctic but little is known of their ingestion by higher predators and mechanisms of their entry into Antarctic marine food webs. The goal of this study was to assess the occurrence of microplastics in a top predator, the gentoo penguin Pygoscelis papua from the Antarctic region (Bird Island, South Georgia and Signy Island, South Orkney Islands) and hence assess the potential for microplastic transfer through Antarctic marine food webs. To achieve this, the presence of microplastics in scats (as a proof of ingestion) was investigated to assess the viability of a non-invasive approach for microplastic analyses in Antarctic penguins. A total of 80 penguin scats were collected and any microplastics they contained were extracted. A total of 20% of penguin scats from both islands contained microplastics, consisting mainly of fibers and fragments with different sizes and polymer composition (mean abundance of microplastics: 0.23 ± 0.53 items individual−1 scat, comprising seven different polymers), which were lower values than those found for seabirds in other regions worldwide. No significant differences in microplastic numbers in penguin scats between the two regions were detected. These data highlight the need for further assessment of the levels of microplastics in this sensitive region of the planet, specifically studies on temporal trends and potential effects on penguins and other organisms in the Antarctic marine food web. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bessa, Filipa Ratcliffe, Norman Otero, Vanessa Sobral, Paula Marques, João C. Waluda, Claire M. Trathan, Phil N. Xavier, José C. |
spellingShingle |
Bessa, Filipa Ratcliffe, Norman Otero, Vanessa Sobral, Paula Marques, João C. Waluda, Claire M. Trathan, Phil N. Xavier, José C. Microplastics in gentoo penguins from the Antarctic region |
author_facet |
Bessa, Filipa Ratcliffe, Norman Otero, Vanessa Sobral, Paula Marques, João C. Waluda, Claire M. Trathan, Phil N. Xavier, José C. |
author_sort |
Bessa, Filipa |
title |
Microplastics in gentoo penguins from the Antarctic region |
title_short |
Microplastics in gentoo penguins from the Antarctic region |
title_full |
Microplastics in gentoo penguins from the Antarctic region |
title_fullStr |
Microplastics in gentoo penguins from the Antarctic region |
title_full_unstemmed |
Microplastics in gentoo penguins from the Antarctic region |
title_sort |
microplastics in gentoo penguins from the antarctic region |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/525310/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/525310/1/s41598-019-50621-2.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-50621-2 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-45.500,-45.500,-60.583,-60.583) ENVELOPE(-38.060,-38.060,-54.004,-54.004) ENVELOPE(-45.595,-45.595,-60.708,-60.708) |
geographic |
Arctic Antarctic The Antarctic South Orkney Islands Bird Island Signy Island |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Antarctic The Antarctic South Orkney Islands Bird Island Signy Island |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Bird Island Gentoo penguin Pygoscelis papua Signy Island South Orkney Islands |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Bird Island Gentoo penguin Pygoscelis papua Signy Island South Orkney Islands |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/525310/1/s41598-019-50621-2.pdf Bessa, Filipa; Ratcliffe, Norman orcid:0000-0002-3375-2431 Otero, Vanessa; Sobral, Paula; Marques, João C.; Waluda, Claire M. orcid:0000-0003-3517-5233 Trathan, Phil N. orcid:0000-0001-6673-9930 Xavier, José C. orcid:0000-0002-9621-6660 . 2019 Microplastics in gentoo penguins from the Antarctic region. Scientific Reports, 9, 14191. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50621-2 <https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50621-2> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50621-2 |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766155929028395008 |