{"title":"Mangrove Forests of Biscayne Bay, FL, USA may Act as Sinks for Plastic Debris","authors":"","doi":"10.1007/s13157-024-01785-9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Abstract</h3> <p>Mangrove forests of Biscayne Bay in southeast Florida, USA can sequester pollutants from freshwater inputs. This “filtering” of water minimizes point source discharges through canals, but mangroves may also play an important role in the cycling of plastic pollution that reaches the Bay. The objectives of this study are to determine: 1) The composition of debris in the Bay’s mangroves and 2) How the structure of mangrove forests affects debris distribution. Debris was hypothesized to be more abundant further into the forest due to trapping by vegetation, and mesoplastics (5 mm – 2.5 cm) would be positively correlated to macroplastics (> 2.5 cm) due to fragmentation. Nine transects were surveyed and debris was recorded by size and potential origin. 94.5% of all debris was plastic of which 57.8% were fragments. Negative binomial generalized linear regression was used to relate total plastic and mesoplastic densities to distance from shoreline, elevation, basal area, prop root and pneumatophore cover, and mangrove seedling abundance. Plastic increased with distance from shore and basal area, although the latter was just above the <em>p</em>-value cut-off of 0.05 for mesoplastic (<em>p</em>-value = 0.0513), and was weakly negatively related to prop root coverage. Total plastic was weakly negatively related to red mangrove seedlings and pneumatophore coverage, although these relationships were less clear. Mesoplastic and macroplastic were positively correlated (<em>p</em>-value < 0.05). Selected mangrove forests of Biscayne Bay appear to be sinks for plastic debris, where it accumulates in the interior forest from which it is unlikely to escape.</p>","PeriodicalId":23640,"journal":{"name":"Wetlands","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Wetlands","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-024-01785-9","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Mangrove forests of Biscayne Bay in southeast Florida, USA can sequester pollutants from freshwater inputs. This “filtering” of water minimizes point source discharges through canals, but mangroves may also play an important role in the cycling of plastic pollution that reaches the Bay. The objectives of this study are to determine: 1) The composition of debris in the Bay’s mangroves and 2) How the structure of mangrove forests affects debris distribution. Debris was hypothesized to be more abundant further into the forest due to trapping by vegetation, and mesoplastics (5 mm – 2.5 cm) would be positively correlated to macroplastics (> 2.5 cm) due to fragmentation. Nine transects were surveyed and debris was recorded by size and potential origin. 94.5% of all debris was plastic of which 57.8% were fragments. Negative binomial generalized linear regression was used to relate total plastic and mesoplastic densities to distance from shoreline, elevation, basal area, prop root and pneumatophore cover, and mangrove seedling abundance. Plastic increased with distance from shore and basal area, although the latter was just above the p-value cut-off of 0.05 for mesoplastic (p-value = 0.0513), and was weakly negatively related to prop root coverage. Total plastic was weakly negatively related to red mangrove seedlings and pneumatophore coverage, although these relationships were less clear. Mesoplastic and macroplastic were positively correlated (p-value < 0.05). Selected mangrove forests of Biscayne Bay appear to be sinks for plastic debris, where it accumulates in the interior forest from which it is unlikely to escape.
期刊介绍：
Wetlands is an international journal concerned with all aspects of wetlands biology, ecology, hydrology, water chemistry, soil and sediment characteristics, management, and laws and regulations. The journal is published 6 times per year, with the goal of centralizing the publication of pioneering wetlands work that has otherwise been spread among a myriad of journals. Since wetlands research usually requires an interdisciplinary approach, the journal in not limited to specific disciplines but seeks manuscripts reporting research results from all relevant disciplines. Manuscripts focusing on management topics and regulatory considerations relevant to wetlands are also suitable. Submissions may be in the form of articles or short notes. Timely review articles will also be considered, but the subject and content should be discussed with the Editor-in-Chief (NDSU.wetlands.editor@ndsu.edu) prior to submission. All papers published in Wetlands are reviewed by two qualified peers, an Associate Editor, and the Editor-in-Chief prior to acceptance and publication. All papers must present new information, must be factual and original, and must not have been published elsewhere.
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