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Characteristics of Suspended Particulate Matter, Benthic Environmental Factors, and Their Relationship to Bivalves
Summary
Despite its title referencing microplastics, this is primarily a review of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in coastal marine environments and how it affects bivalve shellfish populations — not a study of microplastic pollution or health effects per se. The paper briefly mentions that microplastic characteristics are an area needing more research within the SPM literature, but its core subject is the ecology of bivalves and particle dynamics. It is only tangentially relevant to microplastics science.
Bivalves are of great ecological and economic importance across coastal zones around the globe. Their distribution and abundance are affected by various benthic environmental factors, including suspended particulate matter (SPM). The relationship between bivalves and SPM has been studied in various contexts but not recently. Thus, the authors conducted a literature review of SPM found in the marine environment, its characteristics (particle size and density), and how the surrounding benthic environmental factors (salinity, light availability, and current velocity) influence its characteristics. Certain areas were found to lack or require further research, such as on the characteristics of microplastics and the mechanism behind the positive influence of PIM in bivalve diet components not yet discovered. Over the past decades, coastal environments have undergone huge development and change that has affected the SPM components and conditions in coastal marine environments, justifying updated research. The need for this and other information will influence future research, as summarized at the end of the article.