Hankins Cheryl, Lasseigne Danielle, Davis Sarah M, Edwards Kimberly, Paul Jenny S
United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling, Gulf Ecosystem Measurement and Modeling Division, Gulf Breeze, FL, USA.
United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, ORISE Research Participation Program, Narragansett, RI, USA.
Coral Reefs. 2025 Feb 1;44(1):193-207. doi: 10.1007/s00338-024-02596-4.
Coral reef declines have been documented since the 1980's from a variety of global and local stressors. Management resource tools are needed to preserve these fragile ecosystems from stressors, both known and unknown. Laboratory studies have shown microplastics (MP) to have negative effects on coral physiology, but their effects in a natural environment are not well understood. Thus, our primary objectives were to explore associations between MPs and coral reef attributes. We measured MP concentrations from sub-surface water and coral tissue samples from two Caribbean/Atlantic scleractinian coral species, and , from St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands and Florida's Coral Reef in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Polymer identification yielded mostly cotton or polyester fibers for both water and coral tissue samples. This study is the first to document MPs in coral tissues from either the U.S. Virgin Islands or Florida's Coral Reef and is the first to explore how MPs relate to coral reef attributes. Significant, positive relationships were seen between MPs in coral tissue and coral density, rugosity, and percent coral cover, indicating MPs may not have immediate adverse effects on coral reef health.
自20世纪80年代以来，由于各种全球和局部压力源，珊瑚礁数量一直在减少。需要管理资源工具来保护这些脆弱的生态系统免受已知和未知压力源的影响。实验室研究表明，微塑料（MP）对珊瑚生理有负面影响，但它们在自然环境中的影响尚不清楚。因此，我们的主要目标是探索微塑料与珊瑚礁属性之间的关联。我们分别于2017年和2018年测量了来自美属维尔京群岛圣约翰以及佛罗里达珊瑚礁的两种加勒比/大西洋石珊瑚物种——鹿角珊瑚和多孔鹿角珊瑚——的表层以下水样和珊瑚组织样本中的微塑料浓度。对聚合物的鉴定结果显示，水样和珊瑚组织样本中的微塑料大多为棉纤维或聚酯纤维。本研究首次记录了美属维尔京群岛或佛罗里达珊瑚礁珊瑚组织中的微塑料，并且首次探索了微塑料与珊瑚礁属性之间的关系。研究发现，珊瑚组织中的微塑料与珊瑚密度、粗糙度和珊瑚覆盖百分比之间存在显著的正相关关系，这表明微塑料可能不会对珊瑚礁健康立即产生不利影响。
