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Distribution and biological implications of plastic pollution on the fringing reef of Mo’orea, French Polynesia
Coral reef ecosystems of the South Pacific are extremely vulnerable to plastic pollution from oceanic gyres and land-based sources. To describe the extent and impact of plastic pollution, the distribution of both macro- (>5 mm) and microplastic (plastic < 5 mm) of the fringing reef of an isola...
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2017
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5580389/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28875079 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3733 |
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author | Connors, Elizabeth J. |
author_facet | Connors, Elizabeth J. |
author_sort | Connors, Elizabeth J. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Coral reef ecosystems of the South Pacific are extremely vulnerable to plastic pollution from oceanic gyres and land-based sources. To describe the extent and impact of plastic pollution, the distribution of both macro- (>5 mm) and microplastic (plastic < 5 mm) of the fringing reef of an isolated South Pacific island, Mo’orea, French Polynesia was quantified. Macroplastic was found on every beach on the island that was surveyed. The distribution of this plastic was categorized by site type and by the presence of Turbinaria ornata, a common macroalgae on Mo’orea. Microplastics were discovered in the water column of the fringing reef of the island, at a concentration of 0.74 pieces m(−2). Additionally, this study reports for the first time the ingestion of microplastic by the corallimorpha Discosoma nummiforme. Microplastics were made available to corallimorph polyps in a laboratory setting over the course of 108 h. Positively and negatively buoyant microplastics were ingested, and a microplastic particle that was not experimentally introduced was also discovered in the stomach cavity of one organism. This study indicates that plastic pollution has the potential to negatively impact coral reef ecosystems of the South Pacific, and warrants further study to explore the broader potential impacts of plastic pollution on coral reef ecosystems. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5580389 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2017 |
publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-55803892017-09-05 Distribution and biological implications of plastic pollution on the fringing reef of Mo’orea, French Polynesia Connors, Elizabeth J. PeerJ Conservation Biology Coral reef ecosystems of the South Pacific are extremely vulnerable to plastic pollution from oceanic gyres and land-based sources. To describe the extent and impact of plastic pollution, the distribution of both macro- (>5 mm) and microplastic (plastic < 5 mm) of the fringing reef of an isolated South Pacific island, Mo’orea, French Polynesia was quantified. Macroplastic was found on every beach on the island that was surveyed. The distribution of this plastic was categorized by site type and by the presence of Turbinaria ornata, a common macroalgae on Mo’orea. Microplastics were discovered in the water column of the fringing reef of the island, at a concentration of 0.74 pieces m(−2). Additionally, this study reports for the first time the ingestion of microplastic by the corallimorpha Discosoma nummiforme. Microplastics were made available to corallimorph polyps in a laboratory setting over the course of 108 h. Positively and negatively buoyant microplastics were ingested, and a microplastic particle that was not experimentally introduced was also discovered in the stomach cavity of one organism. This study indicates that plastic pollution has the potential to negatively impact coral reef ecosystems of the South Pacific, and warrants further study to explore the broader potential impacts of plastic pollution on coral reef ecosystems. PeerJ Inc. 2017-08-29 /pmc/articles/PMC5580389/ /pubmed/28875079 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3733 Text en ©2017 Connors http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited. |
spellingShingle | Conservation Biology Connors, Elizabeth J. Distribution and biological implications of plastic pollution on the fringing reef of Mo’orea, French Polynesia |
title | Distribution and biological implications of plastic pollution on the fringing reef of Mo’orea, French Polynesia |
title_full | Distribution and biological implications of plastic pollution on the fringing reef of Mo’orea, French Polynesia |
title_fullStr | Distribution and biological implications of plastic pollution on the fringing reef of Mo’orea, French Polynesia |
title_full_unstemmed | Distribution and biological implications of plastic pollution on the fringing reef of Mo’orea, French Polynesia |
title_short | Distribution and biological implications of plastic pollution on the fringing reef of Mo’orea, French Polynesia |
title_sort | distribution and biological implications of plastic pollution on the fringing reef of mo’orea, french polynesia |
topic | Conservation Biology |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5580389/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28875079 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3733 |
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