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Microplastics with and without chemical additives modestly affected phytoplankton and zooplankton in a large in-lake mesocosm study
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Scientists added common plastic fragments (with and without the chemical additives often mixed into plastics) to a real lake to see how they'd affect the tiny plants and animals at the base of the food chain. The good news: over two months, the impacts were fairly minor—some small shifts in which species thrived, but no major die-offs—suggesting these plastics may not be immediately devastating to freshwater ecosystems at the levels tested. Since these microscopic organisms are the foundation of the food web that eventually reaches our dinner plates (think fish), this kind of research helps scientists figure out whether microplastic pollution could indirectly aff
Microplastics are complex contaminants, potentially posing both a physical and chemical risk to aquatic organisms. To better understand the physical and chemical impacts of microplastics, we conducted a large in situ pelagic mesocosm experiment in a freshwater boreal lake at the International Institute for Sustainable Development-Experimental Lakes Area. An equal mixture of polyethylene, polystyrene, and polyethylene terephthalate fragments with and without chemical additives were added to mesocosms as a single pulse and were contrasted with a control treatment with no added microplastics. Plankton communities were monitored for 62 days following microplastic additions. Total phytoplankton biomass was not affected by either microplastic treatment; however, a shift in phytoplankton community composition was detected in the microplastic treatment without additives on Day 62. Total zooplankton and cladoceran abundance marginally increased over time in both microplastic treated mesocosms, and diversity was lower in the additive treatment. There was a negative impact on Tropocyclops extensus egg production in microplastic treatments with and without additives, and the abundance of early-instar Chaoborus was temporarily higher in mesocosms containing microplastics without additives. Overall, the impacts of microplastics were relatively small, irrespective of the presence or absence of chemical additives, on natural pelagic phytoplankton or zooplankton communities over the 62-day exposure.
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Microplastic addition has no detectable effect on ecosystem metabolism or diel dinitrogen flux in a large in‐lake mesocosm experiment under oligotrophic conditions
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Scientists added microplastic particles to lake enclosures to see if these tiny plastic bits disrupt how lake ecosystems "breathe" — meaning how they produce oxygen, use it up, and cycle other gases. Even at high concentrations, the microplastics had no measurable effect on these processes in this lake environment, which is somewhat reassuring news suggesting plastic pollution may not be dramatically disrupting the basic functioning of freshwater ecosystems we rely on for clean water. That said, this was one study in one type of lake, so it doesn't mean microplastics are harmless overall — just that this particular
Microplastics at Environmentally Relevant Concentrations Had Minimal Impacts on Pelagic Zooplankton Communities in a Large In-Lake Mesocosm Experiment
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Researchers conducted a large-scale 10-week mesocosm experiment in a Canadian boreal lake to assess microplastic impacts on zooplankton at environmentally relevant concentrations. They found that zooplankton ingested low levels of microplastics and their overall abundance and community composition were not negatively impacted. However, temporary effects were observed, including stimulation of some species and short-term reductions in egg production, suggesting microplastics may have complex but limited effects at current environmental levels.
The impact of microplastics on lake communities: A mesocosm study
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Researchers conducted a mesocosm experiment to assess how microplastic contamination affects lake communities, including zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, and fish. They found that microplastic exposure caused varying effects across organism groups, with some community-level changes observed over the study period. The study highlights that microplastic pollution can alter freshwater ecosystem dynamics beyond what has been documented in single-species laboratory studies.
Effects of a microplastic mixture differ across trophic levels and taxa in a freshwater food web: In situ mesocosm experiment
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Researchers conducted the first in situ mesocosm experiment testing the effects of a microplastic mixture on a freshwater lake food web, spanning multiple trophic levels. The study found that microplastic effects varied across different organisms and trophic levels, providing important community-level evidence that laboratory findings may not fully predict how microplastics impact real aquatic ecosystems.
Supp. data for the 2022 pelagic mesocosm plankton
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This supplementary dataset supports a large in-lake mesocosm experiment examining whether microplastics with and without chemical additives affect phytoplankton and zooplankton communities in 2022. The dataset includes phytoplankton and zooplankton data along with R code for reproducible statistical analysis of the pelagic plankton responses.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.