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Association of microplastic pollution with coral resilience in the presence of sea surface temperature anomalies
Summary
Scientists found that microplastic pollution—tiny plastic bits now found throughout our oceans—makes coral reefs significantly less able to bounce back from ocean warming, with some reefs near Madagascar and the Solomon Islands losing resilience by more than 100%. This matters beyond ocean health: coral reefs protect coastlines, support fisheries that feed billions of people, and their decline signals just how deeply plastic pollution has infiltrated marine ecosystems humans depend on for food and livelihoods.
Coral resilience is a critical determinant of the capacities of reef ecosystems to withstand climate change and environmental pollution; however, its global distribution patterns remain elusive, and its key associated factors remain controversial. In this study, we analyzed 3590 independent coral resilience cases and determined that microplastics (MPs) have potential interactions and cascading effects with the sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) frequency. The significant negative associations between MPs and resilience were determined under a sensitive, optimal SSTA frequency. Without considering microplastics, global coral resilience would increase by 15.36%. Moreover, the resilience of coral reefs in the Indian and Pacific Oceans (e.g., near Madagascar and the Solomon Islands) could be decreased by a maximum of 127.82% via the slight covariation of microplastics and external pressure changes. To generate systemic and professional knowledge for environmental managers and scholars, reveal hidden information about coral resilience and clarify the role of MPs, a large language model named Coral Bot (http://101.201.44.218:8080) was developed by integrating 2087 studies. Even users without specialized knowledge can quickly understand the complex relationships among coral resilience, environmental pollution and climate change through Coral Bot. This work increases the accuracy of the coral resilience assessments in the presence of temperature anomalies and microplastic pollution, improving reef management conservation policies, even for nonspecialists.