Connors Elizabeth J
Marine Science and Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, United States of America.
PeerJ. 2017 Aug 29;5:e3733. doi: 10.7717/peerj.3733. eCollection 2017.
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 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. Additionally, this study reports for the first time the ingestion of microplastic by the corallimorpha 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.
南太平洋的珊瑚礁生态系统极易受到来自大洋环流和陆地来源的塑料污染影响。为了描述塑料污染的程度和影响，对法属波利尼西亚莫雷阿岛这个孤立的南太平洋岛屿边缘礁的大型塑料（>5毫米）和微塑料（<5毫米）分布进行了量化。在所调查的该岛每个海滩上都发现了大型塑料。这种塑料的分布按地点类型以及莫雷阿岛一种常见大型藻类的存在情况进行了分类。在该岛边缘礁的水柱中发现了微塑料，浓度为每立方米0.74个碎片。此外，本研究首次报告了珊瑚藻对微塑料的摄取情况。在实验室环境中，微塑料在108小时内被提供给珊瑚藻息肉。正浮力和负浮力的微塑料都被摄取了，并且在一个生物体的胃腔中还发现了一个未通过实验引入的微塑料颗粒。这项研究表明，塑料污染有可能对南太平洋的珊瑚礁生态系统产生负面影响，并且有必要进一步研究以探索塑料污染对珊瑚礁生态系统更广泛的潜在影响。
