Civil and Environmental Department, Universidad de la Costa, Calle 58 # 55 - 66, Barranquilla, Colombia.
Centro de Investigaciones Oceanográficas e Hidrográficas del Pacifico, Tumaco, Colombia.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Mar 20;813:151878. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151878. Epub 2021 Nov 23.
The SEAFLOWER Biosphere Reserve (SBR) is the largest Marine Protected Area in the Caribbean Sea and the second largest in Latin America. Marine protected areas are under pressure from various stressors, one of the most important issues being pollution by marine litter, especially plastic. In this study our aim is to establish the distribution pattern and potential sources of solid waste in the different marine/coastal ecosystems of the islands of Providencia and Santa Catalina (SBR), as well as assess any interconnections between these ecosystems. At the same time, the distribution characteristics of marine litter in the different compartments facilitated a more dynamic understanding of the load of marine litter supplied by the islands, both locally and externally. We observed that certain ecosystems, principally back-beach vegetation and mangroves, act as crucial marine litter accumulation zones. Mangroves are important hotspots for plastic accumulation, with densities above eight items/m (minimum 8.38 and maximum 10.38 items/m), while back-beach vegetation (minimum 1.43 and maximum 7.03 items/m) also removes and stores a portion of the marine litter that arrives on the beaches. Tourist beaches for recreational activities have a low density of marine litter (minimum 0.01 and maximum 0.72 items/m) due to regular clean-ups, whereas around non-tourist beaches, there is a greater variety of sources and accumulation (minimum 0.31 and maximum 5.41 items/m). The low density of marine litter found on corals around the island (0-0.02 items/m) indicates that there is still no significant marine litter stream to the coral reefs. Identifying contamination levels in terms of marine litter and possible flows between ecosystems is critical for adopting management and reduction strategies for such residues.
海洋花海生物圈保护区（SEAFLOWER Biosphere Reserve，SBR）是加勒比海最大的海洋保护区，也是拉丁美洲第二大海洋保护区。海洋保护区面临着各种压力，其中一个最重要的问题是海洋垃圾污染，尤其是塑料污染。在这项研究中，我们的目的是确定位于普罗维登西亚岛（Providencia）和圣卡塔利娜岛（Santa Catalina）的 SBR 中不同海洋/沿海生态系统中固体废物的分布模式和潜在来源，并评估这些生态系统之间的任何相互联系。同时，不同隔室中海洋垃圾的分布特征有助于更动态地了解岛屿提供的海洋垃圾的负荷，包括本地和外部来源。我们观察到，某些生态系统，主要是后滩植被和红树林，是海洋垃圾的重要积聚区。红树林是塑料积聚的重要热点，密度超过 8 个/米（最小值 8.38，最大值 10.38 个/米），而后滩植被（最小值 1.43，最大值 7.03 个/米）也会去除和储存一部分到达海滩的海洋垃圾。用于娱乐活动的旅游海滩由于定期清理，海洋垃圾的密度较低（最小值 0.01，最大值 0.72 个/米），而在非旅游海滩周围，有更多种类的来源和积聚（最小值 0.31，最大值 5.41 个/米）。岛上珊瑚周围发现的海洋垃圾密度较低（0-0.02 个/米），表明目前还没有大量的海洋垃圾流到珊瑚礁。确定海洋垃圾的污染水平和生态系统之间可能的流动对于采取管理和减少这些残留物的策略至关重要。
