CCMAR-Centro de Ciencias do Mar, CIMAR Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro 8005-139, Portugal.
CCMAR-Centro de Ciencias do Mar, CIMAR Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro 8005-139, Portugal; Univ. Lille, CNRS, Univ. Littoral Côte d'Opale, UMR 8187 - LOG - Laboratoire d'Océanologie et de Géosciences, F-59000 Lille, France; Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Nov 20;848:157771. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157771. Epub 2022 Aug 1.
Our understanding of how anthropogenic stressors such as climate change and plastic pollution interact with biodiversity is being widened to include diversity below the species level, i.e., intraspecific variation. The emerging appreciation of the key ecological importance of intraspecific diversity and its potential loss in the Anthropocene, further highlights the need to assess the relative importance of intraspecific versus interspecific diversity. One such issue is whether a species responds as a homogenous whole to plastic pollution. Using manipulative field transplant experiments and laboratory-controlled hydrodynamic simulations, we assessed the relative effects of intraspecific and interspecific diversity on microplastic trapping in coastal biogenic habitats dominated by two key bioengineers, the brown intertidal macroalgae Fucus vesiculosus and F. guiryi. At the individual level, northern morphotypes of F. guiryi trapped more microplastics than southern individuals, and F. vesiculosus trapped more microplastics than F. guiryi. Canopy density varied among species, however, leading to reversed patterns of microplastic accumulation, with F. guiryi canopies accumulating more microplastics than those of F. vesiculosus, while no differences were observed between the canopies of F. guiryi morphotypes. We emphasize the importance of assessing the effects of intraspecific variation which, along with other crucial factors such as canopy density, flow velocity and polymer composition, modulates the extent of microplastic accumulation in coastal biogenic habitats. Our findings indicate that a realistic estimation of plastic accumulation in biogenic habitats requires an understanding of within- and between-species traits at both the individual and population levels.
我们对人为胁迫因素（如气候变化和塑料污染）与生物多样性相互作用的理解正在扩大，包括物种以下水平的多样性，即种内变异。人们越来越认识到种内多样性的关键生态重要性及其在人类世可能丧失，这进一步强调了评估种内多样性与种间多样性相对重要性的必要性。其中一个问题是，一个物种是否会作为一个整体对塑料污染做出反应。我们使用了操纵性野外移植实验和实验室控制的水动力模拟，评估了种内和种间多样性对受两种关键生物工程师（棕色潮间带大型海藻泡叶藻和 Fucus guiryi）控制的沿海生物源栖息地中微塑料捕获的相对影响。在个体水平上，F. guiryi 的北方形态比南方个体捕获更多的微塑料，而 F. vesiculosus 比 F. guiryi 捕获更多的微塑料。然而，物种间的冠层密度存在差异，导致微塑料积累的模式发生逆转，F. guiryi 的冠层积累的微塑料比 F. vesiculosus 的多，而 F. guiryi 形态的冠层之间没有差异。我们强调了评估种内变异影响的重要性，种内变异以及其他关键因素（如冠层密度、流速和聚合物组成）会调节沿海生物源栖息地中微塑料积累的程度。我们的研究结果表明，要对生物源栖息地中的塑料积累进行现实估计，需要了解个体和种群水平的种内和种间特征。
