Journal
BIOLOGY LETTERS
Volume 8, Issue 5, Pages 817-820Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0298
Keywords
microplastic; marine debris; North Pacific Subtropical Gyre; Halobates sericeus; neuston
Categories
Funding
- University of California Ship Funds
- Project Kaisei/Ocean Voyages Institute
- AWIS-San Diego
- NSF IGERT [0333444]
- Division Of Ocean Sciences
- Directorate For Geosciences [1026607] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Plastic pollution in the form of small particles (diameter less than 5 mm)-termed `microplastic'-has been observed in many parts of the world ocean. They are known to interact with biota on the individual level, e.g. through ingestion, but their population-level impacts are largely unknown. One potential mechanism for microplastic-induced alteration of pelagic ecosystems is through the introduction of hard-substrate habitat to ecosystems where it is naturally rare. Here, we show that microplastic concentrations in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG) have increased by two orders of magnitude in the past four decades, and that this increase has released the pelagic insect Halobates sericeus from substrate limitation for oviposition. High concentrations of microplastic in the NPSG resulted in a positive correlation between H. sericeus and microplastic, and an overall increase in H. sericeus egg densities. Predation on H. sericeus eggs and recent hatchlings may facilitate the transfer of energy between pelagic-and substrate-associated assemblages. The dynamics of hard-substrate-associated organisms may be important to understanding the ecological impacts of oceanic microplastic pollution.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available