Microplastics can alter phytoplankton community composition.

Hitchcock, JN

Microplastics can alter phytoplankton community composition.

Hitchcock, JN

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Publisher:: Elsevier
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Sci Total Environ, 2022, 819, pp. 153074
Issue Date:: 2022-05-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Hitchcock, JN
dc.date.accessioned	2023-05-01T02:59:18Z
dc.date.available	2022-01-08
dc.date.available	2023-05-01T02:59:18Z
dc.date.issued	2022-05-01
dc.identifier.citation	Sci Total Environ, 2022, 819, pp. 153074
dc.identifier.issn	0048-9697
dc.identifier.issn	1879-1026
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/170154
dc.description.abstract	Microplastic pollution is a growing concern globally due to the risks they may pose to ecological communities. Phytoplankton are key ecological community in aquatic ecosystems providing both energy to food webs and have critical roles in ecosystem functions such as carbon cycling. To date studies on how microplastics effect phytoplankton have largely been limited to laboratory exposure studies using monocultures of algae. It remains unknown how the structure of phytoplankton communities will be influenced by growing microplastic pollution. The aim of this study was to determine how different concentrations microplastic fibers influence phytoplankton community structure. Two six-day microcosm studies were conducted testing the response of the phytoplankton community to low, medium, and high microplastics concentrations on the Georges River, Australia. The results showed the highest concentrations of microplastics significantly altered the structure phytoplankton community. These differences were largely driven by increased abundances of cyanobacteria taxa Aphanocapsa and Pseudanabaena, and to a lesser extent reduced abundances of taxa including Crucigenia and Chlamydmonas. There were no significant differences between controls and the low and medium treatments in either experiment. The high concentrations used in this experiment whilst likely rare in the environment are environmentally relevant and equivalent to some of more polluted ecosystems. The results highlight the potential risk to food webs and ecosystem functioning through altering the dynamics of primary production and provide evidence for further study examining the response of ecological communities to microplastics in the environment.
dc.format	Print-Electronic
dc.language	eng
dc.publisher	Elsevier
dc.relation.ispartof	Sci Total Environ
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153074
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject.classification	Environmental Sciences
dc.subject.mesh	Ecosystem
dc.subject.mesh	Microplastics
dc.subject.mesh	Phytoplankton
dc.subject.mesh	Plastics
dc.subject.mesh	Water Pollutants, Chemical
dc.subject.mesh	Phytoplankton
dc.subject.mesh	Plastics
dc.subject.mesh	Water Pollutants, Chemical
dc.subject.mesh	Ecosystem
dc.subject.mesh	Microplastics
dc.subject.mesh	Ecosystem
dc.subject.mesh	Microplastics
dc.subject.mesh	Phytoplankton
dc.subject.mesh	Plastics
dc.subject.mesh	Water Pollutants, Chemical
dc.title	Microplastics can alter phytoplankton community composition.
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	819
utslib.location.activity	Netherlands
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2023-05-01T02:59:16Z
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	819

Abstract:

Microplastic pollution is a growing concern globally due to the risks they may pose to ecological communities. Phytoplankton are key ecological community in aquatic ecosystems providing both energy to food webs and have critical roles in ecosystem functions such as carbon cycling. To date studies on how microplastics effect phytoplankton have largely been limited to laboratory exposure studies using monocultures of algae. It remains unknown how the structure of phytoplankton communities will be influenced by growing microplastic pollution. The aim of this study was to determine how different concentrations microplastic fibers influence phytoplankton community structure. Two six-day microcosm studies were conducted testing the response of the phytoplankton community to low, medium, and high microplastics concentrations on the Georges River, Australia. The results showed the highest concentrations of microplastics significantly altered the structure phytoplankton community. These differences were largely driven by increased abundances of cyanobacteria taxa Aphanocapsa and Pseudanabaena, and to a lesser extent reduced abundances of taxa including Crucigenia and Chlamydmonas. There were no significant differences between controls and the low and medium treatments in either experiment. The high concentrations used in this experiment whilst likely rare in the environment are environmentally relevant and equivalent to some of more polluted ecosystems. The results highlight the potential risk to food webs and ecosystem functioning through altering the dynamics of primary production and provide evidence for further study examining the response of ecological communities to microplastics in the environment.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/170154