A Horizon Scan of research priorities to inform policies aimed at reducing the harm of plastic pollution to biota

Provencher, J. F.; Liboiron, Max; Borrelle, SB; Bond, Alexander L.; Rochman, Chelsea M.; Lavers, Jennifer L.; Avery‐Gomm, Stephanie; Yamashita, Rei; Ryan, P G; Lusher, AL; Hammer, Sjúrður; Bradshaw, Hillary; Khan, Junaid; Mallory, ML

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139381

Cited by 49 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Litter observed during roadside monitoring campaigns will reflect an integration of these processes. Recent policy research has highlighted the importance of local action (Rochman et al 2020) and source identification (Provencher et al 2020) on ending litter accumulation. A strategy for identifying which sources are pertinent to a region could be a critical decision-making tool.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Litter origins, accumulation rates, and hierarchical composition on urban roadsides of the Inland Empire, California

Cowger

Gray

Hapich

et al. 2022

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Urban areas are the primary source of human-made litter globally, and roadsides are a primary accumulation location. This study aimed to investigate how litter arrives at roadsides and determine the accumulation rate and composition of roadside litter. We monitored select roadsides in the Inland Empire, California, for litter abundance (count) and composition (material, item, and brand type). Receipt litter with sale time and location information was used to investigate whether wind, runoff, or human travel were dominant transport agents. Only 9% of the receipts could have experienced runoff, and wind direction was not correlated with receipt transport direction. However, human travel and receipt transport distances were similar in magnitude and distribution, suggesting that the displacement of litter from the place of purchase was predominantly affected by human travel. The median distance receipts traveled from the sale location to the litter observation location was 1.6 km, suggesting that most sources were nearby to where the litter was found. Litter accumulation rates were surprisingly stable (mean 40,349 (33,255-47,865) #/km/year or 1170 (917-1447) kg/km/year) despite repeated cleanups and the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. A new approach was employed to hierarchically bootstrap litter composition proportions and estimate uncertainties. The most abundant materials were plastic and paper. Food-related items and tobacco products were the most common item types. The identified branded objects were from the primary manufacturers (Philip Morris (4, 2-7 %), Mars Incorporated (2, 1-3 %), RJ Reynolds (2, 1-3 %), and Jack in The Box (1, 1-3 %)), but unbranded objects were prevalent. Therefore, identifiable persistent labeling on all products would benefit future litter-related corporate social responsibility efforts. High-resolution monitoring on roadsides can inform urban litter prevention strategies by elucidating litter source, transport, and accumulation dynamics.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Litter origins, accumulation rates, and hierarchical composition on urban roadsides of the Inland Empire, California

Cowger

Gray

Hapich

et al. 2022

Environ. Res. Lett.

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“…Potential solutions to hazardous plastic in the environment are as complex as for any other pollutant, involving sociopolitical considerations for changing human behavior as well as engineering solutions to mitigate escape of plastic during transport, to improve efficiency of waste collection and disposal, and to develop alternative and more degradable materials (Gold et al 2013, Provencher et al 2020. Although these solutions are outside the scope of our review, we point to avenues of investigation that would inform solutions benefitting marine megafauna specifically.…”

Section: Next Phases For Plastic Pollution Research and Mitigationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding individual and population-level effects of plastic pollution on marine megafauna

Senko

Nelms

Reavis

et al. 2020

Endang. Species. Res.

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Plastic pollution is increasing rapidly throughout the world’s oceans and is considered a major threat to marine wildlife and ecosystems. Although known to cause lethal or sub-lethal effects to vulnerable marine megafauna, population-level impacts of plastic pollution have not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we compiled and evaluated information from peer-reviewed studies that reported deleterious individual-level effects of plastic pollution on air-breathing marine megafauna (i.e. seabirds, marine mammals, and sea turtles) worldwide, highlighting those that assessed potential population-level effects. Lethal and sub-lethal individual-level effects included drowning, starvation, gastrointestinal tract damage, malnutrition, physical injury, reduced mobility, and physiological stress, resulting in reduced energy acquisition and assimilation, compromised health, reproductive impairment, and mortality. We found 47 studies published between 1969 and 2020 that considered population-level effects of plastic entanglement (n = 26), ingestion (n = 19), or both (n = 2). Of these, 7 inferred population-level effects (n = 6, entanglement; n = 1, ingestion), whereas 19 lacked evidence for effects (n = 12, entanglement; n = 6, ingestion; n = 1, both). However, no study in the past 50 yr reported direct evidence of population-level effects. Despite increased interest in and awareness of the presence of plastic pollution throughout the world’s oceans, the extent and magnitude of demographic impacts on marine megafauna remains largely unassessed and therefore unknown, in contrast to well-documented effects on individuals. Addressing this major assessment gap will allow researchers and managers to compare relative effects of multiple threats—including plastic pollution—on marine megafauna populations, thus providing appropriate context for strategic conservation priority-setting.

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“…Expert solicitation is an increasingly common method for eliciting future priorities for researchers, managers, and advocates to focus their attention on (e.g., Provencher et al, 2020;Sutherland & Burgman, 2015). By identifying and surveying a large group of individuals with relevant and distinct but overlapping areas of expertise, one can create an aggregate composite picture of expert perspectives on an environmental issue-in other words, a large group of experts knows more about a complex issue than any single expert.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The next generation of conservation research and policy priorities for threatened and exploited chondrichthyan fishes in the United States: An expert solicitation approach

Shiffman

Elliott

Macdonald

et al. 2022

Conservat Sci and Prac

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Chondrichthyan fishes are ecologically and economically important, yet many are overfished or at elevated risk of extinction. Researchers report a desire to perform policy-relevant science that can generate data in support of effective conservation and management plans, but also report a lack of clarity about how to most effectively to do that. To address this gap, we created a list of research and policy priorities for chondrichthyan species of conservation concern in US waters using a modified expert solicitation horizon scan approach.Thirty-five policy-relevant research priorities and twenty-seven policy priorities are presented here, a list which can help to guide scientists and conservationists to maximize the effectiveness of their research and policy advocacy.

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A Horizon Scan of research priorities to inform policies aimed at reducing the harm of plastic pollution to biota

Cited by 49 publications

References 68 publications

Litter origins, accumulation rates, and hierarchical composition on urban roadsides of the Inland Empire, California

Litter origins, accumulation rates, and hierarchical composition on urban roadsides of the Inland Empire, California

Understanding individual and population-level effects of plastic pollution on marine megafauna

The next generation of conservation research and policy priorities for threatened and exploited chondrichthyan fishes in the United States: An expert solicitation approach

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