4.7 Article

Regionally disparate ecological responses to microplastic slowing of faecal pellets yields coherent carbon cycle response

Related references

Note: Only part of the references are listed.
Article Geosciences, Multidisciplinary

Recovery from microplastic-induced marine deoxygenation may take centuries

Karin Kvale et al.

Summary: Climate change and plastics pollution pose dual threats to marine environments. Even if microplastics are completely removed and no longer deposited in the oceans by 2022, it could still take hundreds of years for regional recovery from microplastic-induced remineralization and water column deoxygenation, especially in coastal upwelling zones, the North Pacific, and the Southern Ocean. Surface stratification and reduced sea ice cover further hinder regional recovery, emphasizing the importance of aggressive mitigation of plastic pollution.

NATURE GEOSCIENCE (2023)

Article Environmental Sciences

Simulated Future Trends in Marine Nitrogen Fixation Are Sensitive to Model Iron Implementation

Wanxuan Yao et al.

Summary: This study used three biogeochemical models to investigate the changes in marine nitrogen cycle under a high CO2 emissions future scenario. The representation of iron had a significant impact on global nitrogen fixation, especially in the Eastern boundary upwelling zones, where bottom-up control of iron limitation played a key role in reducing export production with warming.

GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES (2022)

Article Biodiversity Conservation

Large quantities of small microplastics permeate the surface ocean to abyssal depths in the South Atlantic Gyre

Shiye Zhao et al.

Summary: This study surveys microplastics in the surface to near-sea floor waters of the remote South Atlantic Subtropical Gyre and discovers a high abundance of small microplastics (SMPs) with vertical and horizontal variations. The composition of SMPs differs from surface plastic debris, and SMPs have a more even vertical distribution and potentially longer residence times. This suggests that SMPs are a critical and underexplored constituent of the oceanic plastic inventory.

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY (2022)

Article Limnology

Marine phytoplankton resilience may moderate oligotrophic ecosystem responses and biogeochemical feedbacks to climate change

Adam C. Martiny et al.

Summary: The rising temperature, surface stratification, and decreasing nutrient inputs in the oceans are expected to cause the expansion of warm, nutrient-depleted ecosystems, negatively affecting phytoplankton biomass, primary productivity, and carbon export. However, diverse phytoplankton communities have adaptive potential that may render them resilient to global changes.

LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY (2022)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Enhanced silica export in a future ocean triggers global diatom decline

Jan Taucher et al.

Summary: Ocean acidification affects diatom growth and reduces the availability of silicic acid in the surface ocean.

NATURE (2022)

Article Environmental Sciences

Zooplankton exposure to microplastics at global scale: Influence of vertical distribution and seasonality

Camille Richon et al.

Summary: This study assessed the global exposure of zooplankton to microplastics using a coupled physical-biogeochemical model. The results showed that surface waters and coastal areas close to major microplastic sources had the highest microplastic concentration. Seasonal deepening of the mixed layer depth also contributed to the transport of microplastics to deeper waters. High water contamination and intense grazing activity were identified as the main drivers of zooplankton exposure to microplastics.

FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE (2022)

Review Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Implications of plastic pollution on global marine carbon and climate

Karin Kvale

Summary: Plastic pollution can hinder marine biota, but also stimulate phytoplankton growth. While laboratory studies show individual-scale impacts, the global carbon cycle impacts of plastic pollution remain largely unknown. Carbon in plastic particles might have a disproportionate influence on biogeochemical cycling.

EMERGING TOPICS IN LIFE SCIENCES (2022)

Article Ecology

Modelling submerged biofouled microplastics and their vertical trajectories

Reint Fischer et al.

Summary: The fate of (micro)plastic particles in the open ocean is determined by biological and physical processes. The attachment, growth, and loss of algae on the particles, as well as wind-induced mixing and the sinking velocity of the particles, affect the vertical distribution of the particles.

BIOGEOSCIENCES (2022)

Review Environmental Sciences

Plastic pollution impacts on marine carbon biogeochemistry

Luisa Galgani et al.

Summary: The increasing presence of plastic in the ocean poses a major challenge in understanding its health and functioning dynamics, potentially impacting marine wildlife, habitats, microbial activity, and chemical processes. Research shows a continuum of effects of marine plastics on carbon, nutrients, and microbial processes, highlighting the need for further studies on the potential feedbacks of plastics on the changing ocean's carbon biogeochemistry.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (2021)

Article Environmental Sciences

Microplastics reduce net population growth and fecal pellet sinking rates for the marine copepod, Acartia tonsa

Emily A. Shore et al.

Summary: The ingestion of microplastics by copepods was found to reduce growth and survival rates, as well as the size of eggs. Models estimated a significant decrease in population growth and carbon settling due to microplastic exposure.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (2021)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Zooplankton grazing of microplastic can accelerate global loss of ocean oxygen

K. Kvale et al.

Summary: Global warming has led to a loss of dissolved oxygen in the ocean, while zooplankton consuming microplastics reduces competition for food among primary producers, increasing remineralization of organic particles. The Earth system model estimates that this additional remineralization could decrease water column oxygen inventory in the North Pacific and accelerate global oxygen loss. The potential for physical pollution to exacerbate the consequences of climate warming is a novel feedback that has not been fully explored.

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS (2021)

Review Multidisciplinary Sciences

Plastics in the Earth system

Aron Stubbins et al.

Summary: Plastic pollution has become a global issue, prompting us to consider plastics as emergent geomaterials never before seen in Earth's history. With high carbon content, plastics can rival natural organic carbon in some ecosystems, prompting geochemists to include plastics in their analyses to expedite understanding of plastics in the Earth system. Furthermore, plastics can serve as global-scale tracers to advance Earth system science.

SCIENCE (2021)

Review Multidisciplinary Sciences

The global threat from plastic pollution

Matthew MacLeo et al.

Summary: Plastic pollution that accumulates and is poorly reversible in the environment can have significant negative impacts such as changes to ecosystems, biological effects, and societal impacts. Therefore, a global response is needed to rapidly reduce plastic emissions through reductions in consumption of virgin plastic materials and internationally coordinated waste management strategies.

SCIENCE (2021)

Article Engineering, Environmental

Characterizing the multidimensionality of microplastics across environmental compartments

Merel Kooi et al.

Summary: Understanding the multidimensionality of microplastics is essential for realistic assessment of risks they pose. The study captures characteristics of over 60,000 individual microplastic particles as continuous distributions, revealing differences in distribution patterns among particles from different aquatic compartments. This suggests potential sources, removal or fragmentation processes, as well as toxicologically relevant dose metrics.

WATER RESEARCH (2021)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

High concentrations of plastic hidden beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean

Katsiaryna Pabortsava et al.

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS (2020)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

The global biological microplastic particle sink

K. Kvale et al.

SCIENTIFIC REPORTS (2020)

Article Engineering, Environmental

Microplastic Ingestion by Gelatinous Zooplankton May Lower Efficiency of the Biological Pump

Alina M. Wieczorek et al.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (2019)

Article Engineering, Environmental

Simplifying Microplastic via Continuous Probability Distributions for Size, Shape, and Density

Merel Kooi et al.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LETTERS (2019)

Article Environmental Sciences

Microplastics alter feeding selectivity and faecal density in the copepod, Calanus helgolandicus

Rachel L. Coppock et al.

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT (2019)

Article Engineering, Environmental

Role of Marine Snows in Microplastic Fate and Bioavailability

Adam Porter et al.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (2018)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene

Will Steffen et al.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (2018)

Article Biology

Rapid aggregation of biofilm-covered microplastics with marine biogenic particles

Jan Michels et al.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES (2018)

Review Geochemistry & Geophysics

The Ecology, Biogeochemistry, and Optical Properties of Coccolithophores

William M. Balch

ANNUAL REVIEW OF MARINE SCIENCE, VOL 10 (2018)

Article Engineering, Environmental

Ups and Downs in the Ocean: Effects of Biofouling on Vertical Transport of Microplastics

Merel Kooi et al.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (2017)

Article Environmental Sciences

Buffering of Ocean Export Production by Flexible Elemental Stoichiometry of Particulate Organic Matter

Tatsuro Tanioka et al.

GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES (2017)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made

Roland Geyer et al.

SCIENCE ADVANCES (2017)

Review Ecology

Interactions of microplastic debris throughout the marine ecosystem

Tamara S. Galloway et al.

NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION (2017)

Article Marine & Freshwater Biology

Do plastic particles affect microalgal photosynthesis and growth?

Sascha B. Sjollema et al.

AQUATIC TOXICOLOGY (2016)

Article Engineering, Environmental

Microplastics Alter the Properties and Sinking Rates of Zooplankton Faecal Pellets

Matthew Cole et al.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (2016)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

The effect of particle properties on the depth profile of buoyant plastics in the ocean

Merel Kooi et al.

SCIENTIFIC REPORTS (2016)

Article Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

Explicit Planktic Calcifiers in the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model, Version 2.9

K. F. Kvale et al.

ATMOSPHERE-OCEAN (2015)

Article Environmental Sciences

A global inventory of small floating plastic debris

Erik van Sebille et al.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS (2015)

Review Plant Sciences

Global biogeochemical impacts of phytoplankton: a trait-based perspective

Elena Litchman et al.

JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY (2015)

Article Chemistry, Multidisciplinary

Interactions between microplastics and phytoplankton aggregates: Impact on their respective fates

Marc Long et al.

MARINE CHEMISTRY (2015)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet

Will Steffen et al.

SCIENCE (2015)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean

Jenna R. Jambeck et al.

SCIENCE (2015)

Article Engineering, Environmental

Nanoplastic Affects Growth of S. obliquus and Reproduction of D. magna

Ellen Besseling et al.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (2014)

Article Environmental Studies

Carbon Dioxide Emission Pathways Avoiding Dangerous Ocean Impacts

K. Kvale et al.

WEATHER CLIMATE AND SOCIETY (2012)

Article Geosciences, Multidisciplinary

A new marine ecosystem model for the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model

D. P. Keller et al.

GEOSCIENTIFIC MODEL DEVELOPMENT (2012)

Article Environmental Sciences

The RCP greenhouse gas concentrations and their extensions from 1765 to 2300

Malte Meinshausen et al.

CLIMATIC CHANGE (2011)

Article Business

Scenarios of long-term socio-economic and environmental development under climate stabilization

Keywan Riahi et al.

TECHNOLOGICAL FORECASTING AND SOCIAL CHANGE (2007)

Article Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

The role of land surface dynamics in glacial inception: a study with the UVic Earth System Model

KJ Meissner et al.

CLIMATE DYNAMICS (2003)