MICRO2018FateandImpactofMicroplas
cs:Knowledge,Ac
onsandSolu
ons
According to the microflora found on microplastic, while transporting alien species from remote areas may be improbable, they can serve as a vehicle for dispersion within the archipelago by the currents (Fig. 8), being the main harbors of the islands (for discharge of ballast water) or docks (boat fouling) the most likely points of entry of alien species and microplastics help disperse. Worryingly,Worryingly, as marine snow (decaying organic matter, including microalgae aggrega-tes, which falls from the ocean surface to the seafloor) is the main source of food for many marine creatures, they could be exposed to increased levels of microplastics.The researchers say that measurements of microplastics at all levels of the ocean are needed to better understand their fate in the marine environment. A broader un-derstanding will help policymakers design policies that will better manage the risk of plastic pollution in the environment.
This study suggests that microplastics could be an important vector responsible for the transportation of microalgae aggregates into the coastal zones of the Canary Ar-chipelago.
Fig. 7. Sketch of the coastal zone, with physical processes relevant to the problem of microplastic behavior and transportation. (Chubarenko et al. 2018)
Fig. 8. The Canary Current is important for the transport and mixing of cool upwelled coastal water southwestward and into the gyres interior.
Fig. 9. Map of distribution of exotic microalgal species identified during the MIMAR project. Red dots correspond to the main harbors at the Canary Islands.
FIG.1.
Fig. 4. Map of the sampling locations in the Canary Islands.
Samples of microplastics from 78 diferent coastal sites in the Canary archipela-go were investigated (Fig. 4) by light microscopy (bright field, DIC, and epifluo-rescence) (Leica DM6000B) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) (JEOL JSM-6380LV). Cells were measured from SEM images using SEM Control User Interface v. 7.11A by JEOL. The results obtained regarding the diversity of epi-phytic microalgae found on microplastics were generating a number of 29 spe-cies, 20 diatoms (Bacilliariophyta), 3 dinoflagellates (Miozoa), 3 Cyanobacteria, 2 haptophytes and 1 Chlorophyta (Figs 5, 6).
No microlagae distribution pattern has been found on microplastics according to the areas studied. They have identified species that although they have already been mentioned before in the Canary Islands can be considered very rare as is the case of Meloneis, Braadurosphaera or Blepharocysta. Neither have we found a seasonality in the species present on them.
During the MIMAR Project, the identification of microalgae and cyanobacteria species with a distant biogeographical distribution in isolated areas without any antropogenic disturbances of the Canary Islands as for instance, Meloneis mi-mallis (Milos Island, Mediterranean Sea), Procentrum panamense (Martinique, Contadora, French Polynesia and Panama) Prorocentrum sipanadense (Sipadan Island, Malaysia), Prorocentrum elegans (Belize), Cabra levis (Sea of Japan, Russia), Gambierdiscus caribaeus (Caribbean Sea, Florida and Belize) (Fig.(Fig. 9), has been a matter of concern given the environmental and public health implications that can result in. According to the microflora found on microplas-tics, while the transporting of alien species from remote areas may be improba-ble, they can serve as a vehicle for a small scale dispersion within the ar-
chipelago, being the main harbors and docks the most likely points of entry as a consequence of the dischargement of ballast water and boat fouling respecti-vely.
Biological invasions are increasingly recognised as a major problem worldwide with often dramatic effects on ecosystem structure and function. The rapid acceleration in spread of introduced organisms poses a major challenge for management of marine ecosystems. Understanding the mechanisms of invasion is an important element de-fining both threat and control options for introduced marine organisms.
Many studies and publications arguing that the problem of the introducing species was growing worse as a result of factors such as expanded aquaculture, eutrophi-
cation, changes in the littoral, transport of sediments or ballast water trans-
port, but no mention is made of the role played by microplastics in this phenome-non.
The presence of plastic debris in costal zones is reported widely around the world. Larger and heavier litter pieces are typically found in higher concentrations near ur-banized cites, densely populated coasts, or popular resort, that is, closer to their sources of origin. As for smaller microplastic particles (<5 mm), their presence in the deepest ocean sediments, in Arctic ice on distant oceanic islands and in highly pro-tected shores of Natural Parks indicates a rapidly advancing plastic pandemic that has embraced all of Earth’s environments today.
1 2 2 1
Exotic, invasive, alien, non-native and harmful species are being trans-ported around the world by drifting plastic debris, though not a shipping vector, has also been shown to cause transoceanic transfer of marine life. The introduced organisms include viruses, bacteria, spores, algae, microalgae, cyanobacteria and others, which have a global, ecological, social and economical impacts. From the ecological point of view, invasi-ve species has been identified, in general, as the second greatest threat to global bio-diversity after habitat loss.
Are drifting microplastics entry vectors of alien species in the Canary Islands?SolerOnís,E.,Gómez,M.,Herrera,A.andFernándezZabala,J.
(1)SpanishBankofAlgae.FPCToftheUniversityofLasPalmasdeGranCanaria.MuelledeTaliartes/n.35214Telde,CanaryIslands,Spain
(2)MarineOrganismsPhysiology.ECOAQUA.FacultyofMarineSciences,CampusTafira,UniversityofLasPalmasdeGranCanaria,35017LasPalmas,CanaryIslands,Spain
In the last years, the identification of microalgae and cyanobacteria species with a distant biogeographical distribution in isolated areas wi-thout any antropogenic disturbances of the Canary Islands as for ins-tance, Meloneis mimallis (Milos Island, Mediterranean Sea), Procen-trum panamense (Martinique, Contadora, French Polynesia and Panama) Prorocentrum sipanadense (Sipadan Island, Malaysia), Pro-rocentrum elegans (Belize), Cabra levis (Sea of Japan, Russia), Gambierdiscus caribaeus (Caribbean Sea, Florida and Belize) suggests that
there are several vectors and pathways for aquatic invasi-ve species in the archipelago (ballast waters, aquacultu-re, sediment transport, etc.) In this study, an account of suspect alien species found on microplastics, that may have been inadvertently intro-duced into the Canary Archipelago is presented. This fact suggests that drifting microplastics could be an important vector for aquatic invasive species in the Canary islands.
Values obtained in other regions of the world showed that accumulation of marine debris in the Canary Islands is higher than in most of the other zones, except Hong Kong (Fok and Cheung, 2015), South Korea (Lee et al., 2013) and China (Qiu et al., 2015). This indicates that the Canary Archipelago is a hot spot of marine litter, as previously showed by Baztan et al. (2014) and the BM-6 report (CEDEX, 2016).
TheThe southward flowing Canary Current brings plastic debris from the open North Atlantic Ocean to the coasts of the Canary Islands, mainly on the N and NE ex-posed beaches. the Canary Islands are highly polluted by microplastics, rea-ching values above 100 g per L of sand, on the most exposed areas, Herrera et al. (2018) (Fig. 3.).
Microalgae, also known as microphytes, are tiny marine organisms found floa-ting in the surface layer of the ocean or . They exude sticky substances and tend to form clumps when they bump into each other. These aggregates can also stick to other particles, including microplastics. They eventually sink to the se-afloor, taking the microplastics with them, being able to transport microorga-nisms locally through successive subsidence and outcrop processes (Fig. 7).
Figs. 1 (left) and 2 (centre). 1. Microplastic pollution in the Canary Islands, marine plastic debris along the high tide line at Famara Beach. 2. Detailed view of marine plastic debris. Fig 3. Review of microplastic abundance in sediments from different world regions.
Actinoptychus heliopelta Amphora sp.
Amphora bigibba
Melosira confervoidesCoolia areolata
Braarudosphaera bigelowiiBlepharocysta splendor-maris Emiliania huxleyi
Prorocentrum rathymum
Coscinodiscus sp.
Mastogloia esplendida
Mastogloia sp.Psammodictyon panduriformis
Campylodiscus neofastuosusCocconeis sp.Meloneis mimallis
Lyngbya majusculaspore of red algae germinating
Bacillariophyta
Actinoptychus heliopelta Grunow in Van Heurck
Amphora bigibba Grunow in A.W.F.Schmidt
Amphora sp.
Brachysira exilis (Kützing) Round & D.G.Mann
Campylodiscus neofastuosus Ruck & Nakov
CocconeisCocconeis sp.
Coscinodiscus sp.
Diploneis crabro (Ehrenberg) Ehrenberg
Diploneis interrupta (Kützing) Cleve
Gyrosigma acuminatum (Kützing) Rabenhorst
Mastogloia sp.
Mastogloia splendida (Gregory) H.Pergallo
Melobesia confervoidesMelobesia confervoides Funk
Meloneis mimallis I.Louvrou, D.B.Danielidis & A.Economou-Amilli
Navicula gregaria Donkin
Nitzschia linearis W.Smith
Nitzschia marginata Hustedt
Psammodictyon panduriforme (W.Gregory) D.G.Mann
Tryblionella acuminata W.Smith
Tryblionella littoralisTryblionella littoralis (Grunow) D.G.Mann
Fig.5. List of microalgae and cyanobacteria identified species in this study.
Fig. 6. Composition of identified species in this study
Haptophyta
Braarudosphaera bigelowii (Gran & Braarud) Deflandre
Emiliania huxleyi (Lohmann) W.W.Hay & H.P.Mohler
Cyanobacteria
Chroococcus turgidus (Kützing) Nägeli
Lyngbya majuscula Harvey ex Gomont
Pseudanabaena persicinaPseudanabaena persicina (Reinke ex Gomont) Anagnostidis
Miozoa (Dinoflagellates)
Blepharocysta splendor-maris (Ehrenberg) F.Stein
Coolia areolata L.Ten-Hage, J.Turquet, J.P.Quod & Couté
Prorocentrum rathymum Loeblich, Shirley & Schmidt
Chlorophyta
Enteromorpha sp.
Herrera et al.(2018)
Herrera et al.(2018)
Herrera et al.(2018)
Top Related