Long-term marine litter monitoring in the remote Great Australian Bight, South Australia

Edyvane, Karen; Dalgetty, A.; Hone, P.W.; Higham, Jason S.; Wace, N. M.

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2003.12.012

Cited by 137 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Madzena & Lasiak 1997) to entire beaches .20 km long (e.g. Edyvane et al 2004). Finally, most studies report standing stocks of litter, whereas others assess the rate of accumulation following removal of existing debris.…”

Section: Beach Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring the abundance of plastic debris in the marine environment

Ryan¹,

Moore²,

Franeker

et al. 2009

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

1,288

565

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Plastic debris has significant environmental and economic impacts in marine systems. Monitoring is crucial to assess the efficacy of measures implemented to reduce the abundance of plastic debris, but it is complicated by large spatial and temporal heterogeneity in the amounts of plastic debris and by our limited understanding of the pathways followed by plastic debris and its long-term fate. To date, most monitoring has focused on beach surveys of stranded plastics and other litter. Infrequent surveys of the standing stock of litter on beaches provide crude estimates of debris types and abundance, but are biased by differential removal of litter items by beachcombing, cleanups and beach dynamics. Monitoring the accumulation of stranded debris provides an index of debris trends in adjacent waters, but is costly to undertake. At-sea sampling requires large sample sizes for statistical power to detect changes in abundance, given the high spatial and temporal heterogeneity. Another approach is to monitor the impacts of plastics. Seabirds and other marine organisms that accumulate plastics in their stomachs offer a cost-effective way to monitor the abundance and composition of small plastic litter. Changes in entanglement rates are harder to interpret, as they are sensitive to changes in population sizes of affected species. Monitoring waste disposal on ships and plastic debris levels in rivers and storm-water runoff is useful because it identifies the main sources of plastic debris entering the sea and can direct mitigation efforts. Different monitoring approaches are required to answer different questions, but attempts should be made to standardize approaches internationally.

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Section: Beach Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring the abundance of plastic debris in the marine environment

Ryan¹,

Moore²,

Franeker

et al. 2009

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

1,288

565

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Page et al (2004) also showed no change in seal entanglement rates in southeast Australia despite efforts by government and fishing organisations to reduce the amount of litter discarded at sea. However, beach surveys in this region suggested that the implementation of MARPOL Annex V reduced the amounts of litter washed ashore (Edyvane et al 2004). Ribic et al (2010) showed how carefully designed beach litter surveys can detect regional differences in long-term trends in the amounts of stranded litter, with consistent trends in landand ship-based sources of litter.…”

Section: Mitigation Measures and Long-term Changes In Marine Littermentioning

confidence: 99%

A Brief History of Marine Litter Research

Ryan

2015

Marine Anthropogenic Litter

211

153

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This chapter traces the history of marine litter research from anecdotal reports of entanglement and plastic ingestion in the 1960s to the current focus on microplastics and their role in the transfer of persistent organic pollutants to marine food webs. The reports in Science of large numbers of plastic pellets in the North Atlantic in the early 1970s stimulated research interest in plastic litter at sea, with papers reporting plastics on the seafloor and impacting a variety of marine animals. The focus then shifted to high concentrations of plastic litter in the North Pacific, where novel studies reported the dynamics of stranded beach litter, the factors influencing plastic ingestion by seabirds, and trends in fur seal entanglement. By the early 1980s, growing concern about the potential impacts of marine litter resulted in a series of meetings on marine debris. The first two international conferences held in Honolulu by the US National Marine Fisheries Service played a key role in setting the research agenda for the next decade. By the end of the 1980s, most impacts of marine litter were reasonably well understood, and attention shifted to seeking effective solutions to tackle the marine litter problem. Research was largely restricted to monitoring trends in litter to assess the effectiveness of mitigation measures, until the last decade, when concern about microplastics coupled with the discovery of alarming densities of small plastic particles in the North Pacific 'garbage patch' (and other mid-ocean gyres) stimulated the current wave of research.

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“…Despite being challenging, shoreline cleanups can be used to increase social awareness of the issue, identify particular plastic items to target mitigation efforts (e.g. uncut strapping bands, sixpack beverage rings, plastic pellets, and weather balloons) and, if done systematically, provide a comparative baseline on distribution, abundance, and accumulation of plastic debris (Edyvane et al 2004, Ribic et al 2010, Eriksson et al 2013, Rosevelt et al 2013. Improving data collection from beach surveys and ensuring that data collection is useful for managers will require an improved understanding of how local circulation and weather patterns (e.g.…”

Section: What Are the Impacts Of Wildlife Entanglement?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Global research priorities to mitigate plastic pollution impacts on marine wildlife

Vegter¹,

Barletta²,

Beck³

et al. 2014

Endang. Species. Res.

294

134

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Marine wildlife faces a growing number of threats across the globe, and the survival of many species and populations will be dependent on conservation action. One threat in particular that has emerged over the last 4 decades is the pollution of oceanic and coastal habitats with plastic debris. The increased occurrence of plastics in marine ecosystems mirrors the increased prevalence of plastics in society, and reflects the high durability and persistence of plastics in the environment. In an effort to guide future research and assist mitigation approaches to marine conservation, we have generated a list of 16 priority research questions based on the expert opinions of 26 researchers from around the world, whose research expertise spans several disciplines, and covers each of the world's oceans and the taxa most at risk from plastic pollution. This paper highlights a growing concern related to threats posed to marine wildlife from microplastics and fragmented debris, the need for data at scales relevant to management, and the urgent need to develop interdisciplinary research and management partnerships to limit the release of plastics into the environment and curb the future impacts of plastic pollution.

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Long-term marine litter monitoring in the remote Great Australian Bight, South Australia

Cited by 137 publications

References 31 publications

Monitoring the abundance of plastic debris in the marine environment

Monitoring the abundance of plastic debris in the marine environment

A Brief History of Marine Litter Research

Global research priorities to mitigate plastic pollution impacts on marine wildlife

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