Ingestion of Microplastics and Textile Cellulose Particles by Some Meiofaunal Taxa of an Urban Stream

Lorenzo, Tiziana Di; Cabigliera, Serena Benedetta; Martellini, Tania; Laurati, Marco; Chelazzi, David; Cincinelli, Alessandra

doi:10.2139/ssrn.4151482

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Copepods, along with nematodes, are the meiofauna group that have been most extensively examined for uptake and effects of microplastics ( Li et al, 2020 ; Sun et al, 2021 ; Yang et al, 2022 ). Despite some monospecific studies with benthic copepods reporting substantial MP ingestion ( Quanbin et al, 2020 ; Todaro et al, 2023 ; Xie et al, 2022 ), and even a preference for MP over food particles ( Lee et al, 2013 ), ingestion in this study was limited, occurring only at the highest MP concentration, partly in line with ( Di Lorenzo et al., 2023 ; Fueser, Mueller & Traunspurger, 2020a ; Fueser, Mueller & Traunspurger, 2020b ) who reported copepods as the meiobenthic taxon with the lowest ingestion. At the same time, however, approximately 25% of copepods in our study had particles affixed to their locomotory appendages, a phenomenon also observed in pelagic copepods ( Quanbin et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 64%

Short-term microplastic effects on marine meiofauna abundance, diversity and community composition

de França,

Moens,

da Silva

et al. 2024

PeerJ

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Background Due to the copious disposal of plastics, marine ecosystems receive a large part of this waste. Microplastics (MPs) are solid particles smaller than 5 millimeters in size. Among the plastic polymers, polystyrene (PS) is one of the most commonly used and discarded. Due to its density being greater than that of water, it accumulates in marine sediments, potentially affecting benthic communities. This study investigated the ingestion of MP and their effect on the meiofauna community of a sandy beach. Meiofauna are an important trophic link between the basal and higher trophic levels of sedimentary food webs and may therefore be substantially involved in trophic transfer of MP and their associated compounds. Methods We incubated microcosms without addition of MP (controls) and treatments contaminated with PS MP (1-µm) in marine sediments at three nominal concentrations (103, 105, 107particles/mL), for nine days, and sampled for meiofauna with collections every three days. At each sampling time, meiofauna were collected, quantified and identified to higher-taxon level, and ingestion of MP was quantified under an epifluorescence microscope. Results Except for Tardigrada, all meiofauna taxa (Nematoda, turbellarians, Copepoda, Nauplii, Acari and Gastrotricha) ingested MP. Absorption was strongly dose dependent, being highest at 107 particles/mL, very low at 105 particles/mL and non-demonstrable at 103 particles/mL. Nematodes accumulated MP mainly in the intestine; MP abundance in the intestine increased with increasing incubation time. The total meiofauna density and species richness were significantly lower at the lowest MP concentration, while at the highest concentration these parameters were very similar to the control. In contrast, Shannon-Wiener diversity and evenness were greater in treatments with low MP concentration. However, these results should be interpreted with caution because of the low meiofauna abundances at the lower two MP concentrations. Conclusion At the highest MP concentration, abundance, taxonomic diversity and community structure of a beach meiofauna community were not significantly affected, suggesting that MP effects on meiofauna are at most subtle. However, lower MP concentrations did cause substantial declines in abundance and diversity, in line with previous studies at the population and community level. While we can only speculate on the underlying mechanism(s) of this counterintuitive response, results suggest that further research is needed to better understand MP effects on marine benthic communities.

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