A new study has, for the first time, recorded and measured how fast microplastics move through the gut passage of a key zooplankton species in real time and used those measurements to
A new study has, for the first time, recorded and measured how fast microplastics move through the gut passage of a key zooplankton species in real time and used those measurements to estimate how much plastic these tiny animals might be transporting—and sinking down—through the ocean each day.
Zooplankton are already emerging as a major biological pathway for microplastics to transport through marine ecosystems. With over 125 trillion microplastic particles estimated to have accumulated in the ocean, understanding how these pollutants are moving through marine ecosystems and food webs is vital for predicting long-term consequences for ocean health.
Copepods are widely considered to be the most numerous zooplankton in our ocean, dominating zooplankton communities in nearly every ocean region, from surface waters to the deep sea. Their staggering numbers mean that even small actions by individual animals—like ingesting microplastics—can collectively drive substantial ecosystem-level changes.
New research, authored by Dr Valentina Fagiano (Oceanographic Centre of the Balearic Islands, COB-IEO-CSIC) and PML’s Dr Matthew Cole, Dr Rachel Coppock and Professor Penelope Lindeque, reveals that copepods may be transporting hundreds of microplastic particles per cubic meter of seawater down through the water column each and every day.
The paper, ‘Real-time visualization reveals copepod
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