Which of these catches more plastic particles- sand beds, coral reefs, sea grass beds, or macro-algae?
A study released last month by Jaco C. de Smit et al. looked at how different nearshore habitats trap and collect micro plastics.
They looked how sand/ sediment bed, sea grass, macro algae, and Stylophora (coral) were able to trap 2 different sizes of micro-plastics- 2.5mm and .5 mm.
What they found is that habitats with more complex structures trapped a higher amount of micro-plastics, but the area which trapped the most micro plastics was the sediment, which trapped 1 to 2 times more than any of the other areas.
The reason they believe this happened is because of the near-bed turbulent kinetic energy which is a contributing factor to sediment trapping.
Of the 2 different sizes of microplastics that were trapped, the .5mm particles seemed to be trapped more frequently than the 2.5 mm particles.
We already know micro-plastics are an issue, why does study this matter?
Nearshore ecosystems, like sea grass beds and coral reefs are hugely productive ecosystems and act as nurseries for many species of fish and sharks. According to this study they have large capacity for sequestering plastic. With these areas that are used by animals in vulnerable life stages, being inundated with micro plastics, it is much easier for them to get ingested and cause issues starting from early on. If the inhabitants of these area start to have issues, so too with the areas themselves.
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