Plastic contamination of a Galapagos Island (Ecuador) and the relative risks to native marine species

Jen S Jones; Adam Porter; Juan Pablo Muñoz-Pérez; Daniela Alarcón-Ruales; Tamara S Galloway; Brendan J Godley; David Santillo; Jessica Vagg; Ceri Lewis

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147704

Back

Plastic contamination of a Galapagos Island (Ecuador) and the relative risks to native marine species

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Plastic contamination of a Galapagos Island (Ecuador) and the relative risks to native marine species

Jen S Jones, Adam Porter, Juan Pablo Muñoz-Pérez, Daniela Alarcón-Ruales, Tamara S Galloway, Brendan J Godley, David Santillo, Jessica Vagg and Ceri Lewis

Science of the Total Environment, Vol.789(61), pp.1-13

2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147704

Files and links (2)

pdf

Plastic contamination of a Galapagos Island (Ecuador) and the relativerisks to native marine species2.41 MBDownload View

Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access

url

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margen.2021.100879View

Published Version

Related material

Has preprint

Plastic contamination of the Galapagos marine food web and the relative risks to...

Abstract

Microplastic

Conservation tool

Invertebrate ingestion

Marine litter

Rapid assessment

Ecuador's Galapagos Islands and their unique biodiversity are a global conservation priority. We explored the presence, composition and environmental drivers of plastic contamination across the marine ecosystem at an island scale, investigated uptake in marine invertebrates and designed a systematic priority scoring analysis to identify the most vulnerable vertebrate species. Beach contamination varied by site (macroplastic 0–0.66 items·m−2, microplastics 0–448.8 particles·m−2 or 0–74.6 particles·kg−1), with high plastic accumulation on east-facing beaches that are influenced by the Humboldt Current. Local littering and waste management leakages accounted for just 2% of macroplastic. Microplastics (including anthropogenic cellulosics) were ubiquitous but in low concentrations in benthic sediments (6.7–86.7 particles·kg−1) and surface seawater (0.04–0.89 particles·m−3), with elevated concentrations in the harbour suggesting some local input. Microplastics were present in all seven marine invertebrate species examined, found in 52% of individuals (n = 123) confirming uptake of microplastics in the Galapagos marine food web. Priority scoring analysis combining species distribution information, IUCN Red List conservation status and literature evidence of harm from entanglement and ingestion of plastics in similar species identified 27 marine vertebrates in need of urgent, targeted monitoring and mitigation including pinnipeds, seabirds, turtles and sharks.

Details

Title: Plastic contamination of a Galapagos Island (Ecuador) and the relative risks to native marine species
Authors: Jen S Jones (Author) - University of Exeter
Adam Porter (Author) - University of Exeter
Juan Pablo Muñoz-Pérez (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Daniela Alarcón-Ruales (Author) - Universidad San Francisco de Quito
Tamara S Galloway (Author) - University of Exeter
Brendan J Godley (Author) - University of Exeter
David Santillo (Author) - University of Exeter
Jessica Vagg (Author) - University of Exeter
Ceri Lewis (Author) - University of Exeter
Publication details: Science of the Total Environment, Vol.789(61), pp.1-13
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date published: 2021
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147704
ISSN: 1879-1026; 0048-9697
Copyright note: © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99533807902621
Output Type: Journal article