Departamento de Ecología & Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile.
Departamento de Ecología & Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile; Programa de Doctorado en Medicina de la Conservación, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2019 Aug;145:23-27. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.05.018. Epub 2019 May 17.
Pollution by microplastics has become a global threat affecting coastal habitats such as sandy beaches and their resident macrofauna. The goal of this study was to assess the influence of microplastics on the feeding behavior and growth rate of a widespread sandy beach amphipod, Orchestoidea tuberculata. These organisms were exposed to artificial food prepared with Poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) microspheres (8 μm particle size) at 3 different concentrations (0%, 5% and 10%). The amphipods consumed significantly more food when the concentration of microplastics was 0% and significantly less when the concentration was 10%, both in trials in which they had a choice (preference experiments) and those in which they did not have a food choice. In contrast to this, the amphipod's absorption efficiency and estimated growth rates were not significantly affected by the concentration of microplastics. Combined, these results indicate that high microplastics concentrations (e.g. 10%) cause a reduction in the amphipod's consumption rates and, indirectly, may affect the role of this species as a main consumer of stranded seaweeds in sandy beaches ecosystems.
微塑料污染已成为全球性威胁，影响着沿海生境，如沙滩及其栖息的大型底栖动物。本研究旨在评估微塑料对广泛分布的沙滩端足类动物 Orchestoidea tuberculata 摄食行为和生长率的影响。这些生物暴露于用聚苯乙烯-共-二乙烯基苯微球（粒径 8 μm）在 3 种不同浓度（0%、5%和 10%）制备的人工食物中。当微塑料浓度为 0%时，端足类动物的摄食量明显增加，而当浓度为 10%时，摄食量明显减少，这两种情况均出现在有食物选择（偏好实验）和没有食物选择的实验中。相比之下，微塑料浓度对端足类动物的吸收效率和估计生长率没有显著影响。综合这些结果表明，高浓度的微塑料（例如 10%）会降低端足类动物的摄食率，并间接地影响该物种作为沙滩生态系统中搁浅海藻的主要消费者的作用。
