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Published (Version of Record)CC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Millimeter-Sized Marine Plastics: A New Pelagic Habitat for Microorganisms and Invertebrates
PloS one, Vol.9(6), e100289
2014
PMCID: PMC4062529
PMID: 24941218
Abstract
Millimeter-sized plastics are abundant in most marine surface waters, and known to carry fouling organisms that potentially play key roles in the fate and ecological impacts of plastic pollution. In this study we used scanning electron microscopy to characterize biodiversity of organisms on the surface of 68 small floating plastics (length range = 1.7–24.3 mm, median = 3.2 mm) from Australia-wide coastal and oceanic, tropical to temperate sample collections. Diatoms were the most diverse group of plastic colonizers, represented by 14 genera. We also recorded ‘epiplastic’ coccolithophores (7 genera), bryozoans, barnacles (Lepas spp.), a dinoflagellate (Ceratium), an isopod (Asellota), a marine worm, marine insect eggs (Halobates sp.), as well as rounded, elongated, and spiral cells putatively identified as bacteria, cyanobacteria, and fungi. Furthermore, we observed a variety of plastic surface microtextures, including pits and grooves conforming to the shape of microorganisms, suggesting that biota may play an important role in plastic degradation. This study highlights how anthropogenic millimeter-sized polymers have created a new pelagic habitat for microorganisms and invertebrates. The ecological ramifications of this phenomenon for marine organism dispersal, ocean productivity, and biotransfer of plastic-associated pollutants, remains to be elucidated.
Details
- Title
- Millimeter-Sized Marine Plastics: A New Pelagic Habitat for Microorganisms and Invertebrates
- Authors/Creators
- Julia Reisser - Univ Western Australia, Sch Environm Syst Engn, Perth, WA 6009, AustraliaJeremy Shaw - Univ Western Australia, Ctr Microscopy Characterisat & Anal, Perth, WA 6009, AustraliaGustaaf Hallegraeff - Univ Tasmania, Inst Marine & Antarctic Studies, Hobart, Tas, AustraliaMaira Proietti - Univ Fed Rio Grande, Inst Oceanog, Rio Grande, BrazilDavid K. A. Barnes - British Antarctic SurveyMichele Thums - Univ Western Australia, Oceans Inst, Perth, WA 6009, AustraliaChris Wilcox - CSIRO, Wealth Oceans Flagship, Perth, WA, AustraliaBritta Denise Hardesty - CSIRO, Wealth Oceans Flagship, Perth, WA, AustraliaCharitha Pattiaratchi - Univ Western Australia, Sch Environm Syst Engn, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
- Publication Details
- PloS one, Vol.9(6), e100289
- Publisher
- Public Library Science
- Number of pages
- 11
- Grant note
- Australia's Marine National Facility Australian Institute of Marine Science bas0100025 / NERC; UK Research & Innovation (UKRI); Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) University of Western Australia Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research bas0100025 / Natural Environment Research Council; UK Research & Innovation (UKRI); Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) CSIRO's Flagship postgraduate scholarship Shell social investment program Austral Fisheries
- Identifiers
- 991005579379607891
- Copyright
- © 2014 Reisser et al.
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Citation topics
- 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
- 3.60 Herbicides, Pesticides & Ground Poisoning
- 3.60.2078 Microplastics
- Web Of Science research areas
- Marine & Freshwater Biology
- ESI research areas
- Environment/Ecology