Beach Litter Deposition at a Selection of Beaches in the Firth of Forth, Scotland

Storrier, K L; McGlashan, Derek J.; Bonellie, Sandra; Velander, Kathy

doi:10.2112/04-0251.1

Cited by 97 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…In these cases, citizens participated in beach cleanup activities or beach surveys of marine litter (e.g. Gregory 1991;Storrier et al 2007), plastic beverage containers (Józwiak 2005) and small plastic debris (Hidalgo-Ruz and Thiel 2013). Apart from one study conducted by divers in subtidal environments (Smith and Edgar 2014), the intertidal zone was the only sampling zone.…”

Section: Research Topicmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Contribution of Citizen Scientists to the Monitoring of Marine Litter

Hidalgo‐Ruz

Thiel

2015

Marine Anthropogenic Litter

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Citizen science projects are based on volunteer participation of untrained citizens who contribute information, data and samples to scientific studies. Herein we provide an overview of marine litter studies that have been supported by citizen scientists (n = 40) and compare these studies with selected studies conducted by professional scientists (n = 40). Citizen science studies have mainly focused on the distribution and composition of marine litter in the intertidal zone. Studies extended over regional, national and international scales, with time periods generally extending from less than one year to two years. Professional studies have also examined the distribution and composition of marine litter, but from intertidal, subtidal and pelagic zones, with some focusing exclusively on microplastics. These studies have been conducted over local, regional and international scales, usually for less than one year each. Both citizen science and professional studies on marine litter have been conducted mainly in the northern hemisphere, revealing a lack of information available on coastal regions of the southern hemisphere. A main concern of citizen science studies is the reliability of the collected information, which is why many studies include steps to ensure data quality, such as preparation of clear protocols, training of volunteers, in situ supervision by professional scientists, and revision of samples and data. The results of this comparative review confirm that citizen science can be a useful approach to increase the available information on marine litter sources, distribution and ecological impacts. Future studies should strive to incorporate IntroductionLarge quantities of anthropogenic litter reach the marine environment, where they spread throughout all oceans and persist for many years (Derraik 2002;Barnes et al. 2009;Ryan et al. 2009;Eriksen et al. 2014). The accumulation of litter causes diverse impacts on marine biota, such as entanglement (Laist 1997;Moore et al. 2009), ingestion (e.g. van Franeker et al. 2011Carson 2013;Cole et al. 2013), and dispersal of alien species (Barnes 2002;Masó et al. 2003;Kiessling et al. 2015). The extensive spreading of marine litter, even to the most remote regions of the world's oceans, makes litter distribution and abundance surveys difficult and time consuming (Ryan et al. 2009;Eriksen et al. 2014). Coastal regions, where a large fraction of marine litter is deposited, receive visits from a wide range of people, including, but not limited to, tourists, fishermen, and schoolchildren. Such coastal users have been recruited to support scientific beach surveys to quantify marine litter worldwide (e.g. Ogata et al. 2009;Ribic et al. 2010). These volunteers (here termed "citizen scientists") (Bonney et al. 2009) have participated in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data in a wide range of studies, determining litter distribution and abundance in the marine environment (Lindborg et al. 2012;Smith and Edgar 2014;Thiel et al. 2014).Herein we provide a ...

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Section: Research Topicmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Contribution of Citizen Scientists to the Monitoring of Marine Litter

Hidalgo‐Ruz

Thiel

2015

Marine Anthropogenic Litter

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“…According to Storrier et al (2007) and Spengler & Costa (2008), sandy beaches, estuaries and the seafloor are the preferential areas for litter accumulation. Regarding beaches, marine debris can be deposited in the backshore in various situations, such as during spring high tides and events of equinoctial meteorological tides.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plastic fragments as a major component of marine litter: a case study in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Fernandino¹,

Elliff²,

Silva³

et al. 2016

RGCI

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Urban areas are hotspots for marine litter. Plastic materials are the most common type of beach litter and can fragment into even smaller pieces. A total of 24 sampling stations were distributed along the coast of Salvador, Brazil, from which every litter item > 2 cm was sampled. A total of 17,089 items were sampled from the beaches of Salvador in two different survey seasons (10,416 during the winter and 6,673 during the summer). Plastic represented 87.45% of all materials sampled during the winter and 85.24%, during the summer. In both seasons, the majority of the sampled beaches were classified as extremely dirty according to the Clean-Coast Index. Plastic fragments were found in every sampling station in both field surveys, representing 45.7% of the overall plastic items sampled. Tourism/recreation activities appeared to be important sources of litter to the area. Keywords: plastic pollution; plastic fragments; coastal management; urban beaches; coastal currents. 16 OCT 2015; Peer review: 12 NOV 2015; Revised: 18 NOV 2015; Accepted: 24 NOV 2015; Available on-line: 26 NOV 2015 This article contains supporting information online at http://www.aprh.pt/rgci/pdf/rgci-649_Fernandino_Supporting-Information.pdf Fernandino et al. (2016) RESUMO

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“…Slow-moving circulation is variable, causing litter to remain within the Firth of Forth for considerable time (Dyke, 1987). Storrier et al (2007) reported that proximity to ports does not have a significant effect on the amount of litter found on these beaches, and suggest that climatic and tidal patterns exert the greatest influence on presence of debris. Overall, beaches identified that were not in proximity to major fishing ports generally were not located in areas of major fishing activity either.…”

Section: Currents Explain Observed Patterns Of Marine Debris On Beachmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) provided the raw data collected by volunteers for the MCS as part of the MCS Beachwatch Weekend on around 1000 UK beaches between and 2007(MCS, 2014. MCS took environmental variables such as wind direction, tides and storm patterns into consideration restricting the survey to certain time frames.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fisheries as a source of marine debris on beaches in the United Kingdom

Unger

Harrison

2016

Marine Pollution Bulletin

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Marine debris from ships has persisted and remains a concern despite international agreements such as MARPOL. We report on an analysis of beach litter based on a data set established by the Marine Conservation Society (MSC) Beachwatch weekends. Debris collected around the UK was divided into three main types of debris: (1) plastic (2) fishing, (3) fishing related plastic and rubber. Correspondence analysis (CA) was used to examine patterns in the occurrence of debris types on a total of 1023 beaches and debris attributable to fishing was identified on clusters of beaches mainly located on the coasts of Scotland and along the English Channel. General Linear model (GLM) identified fishing as the highest explanatory factor when testing for relationships between litter and proximity to fishing ports and grounds. The results add to the growing body of evidence that the fishing industry is largely responsible for marine debris.

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Beach Litter Deposition at a Selection of Beaches in the Firth of Forth, Scotland

Cited by 97 publications

References 27 publications

The Contribution of Citizen Scientists to the Monitoring of Marine Litter

The Contribution of Citizen Scientists to the Monitoring of Marine Litter

Plastic fragments as a major component of marine litter: a case study in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Fisheries as a source of marine debris on beaches in the United Kingdom

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