Early evidence of microplastics on seagrass and macroalgae

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Seng, Nicholas
Lai, Samantha
Fong, Jenny
Saleh, Muhammad Faiq
Cheng, Clement
Cheok, Zi Yu
Todd, Peter A
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2020
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Abstract

Microplastic accumulation on marine macrophytes, such as macroalgae and seagrasses, is a potentially critical but overlooked pathway by which microplastics enter the marine food web. Despite the possible significance of this pathway, few studies have examined the presence of microplastics on macrophytes found in situ. We quantified the density of microplastics found on the surfaces of three species of intertidal seagrasses (Cymodocea rotundata, Cymodocea serrulata and Thalassia hemprichii) and two species of subtidal macroalgae (Padina sp. and Sargassum ilicifolium), and found significantly higher microplastic densities on seagrasses than on macroalgae. However, we found no relationships between microplastic density and epibiont cover in either seagrass or macroalgae. Our study has provided early evidence of microplastics on macrophyte surfaces in situ, being the first such evidence for macroalgae, and the second for seagrasses.

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Marine and Freshwater Research

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71

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8

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© 2020 CSIRO. This is the author-manuscript version of this paper. Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version.

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Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology)

Pollution and contamination

Science & Technology

Life Sciences & Biomedicine

Physical Sciences

Fisheries

Limnology

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Seng, N; Lai, S; Fong, J; Saleh, MF; Cheng, C; Cheok, ZY; Todd, PA, Early evidence of microplastics on seagrass and macroalgae, Marine and Freshwater Research, 2020, 71 (8), pp. 922-928

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