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Insights into taxonomic and functional trait assessment of marine nematodes in mediterranean coastal ecosystems after exposure to polyethylene microplastics and sulfonamide antibiotics
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Researchers examined how polyethylene microplastics and sulfonamide antibiotics — individually and combined — affected marine nematode communities from two Mediterranean coastal sites, finding significant reductions in population indices, altered feeding behavior, and changes in life strategy traits, indicating that co-occurring pollutants can restructure bottom-dwelling ecosystems.
Coastal ecosystems are among the most productive environments and exposed to several emerging contaminants (ECs). Most of these contaminants are removed from the water column and accumulated into the sediments. In the present study, nematodes, collected from two Mediterranean coastal ecosystems, Menzel Jemil and Zuwetina, northern Tunisia and Libya, respectively, were examined in terms of univariate indices, structural composition and functional traits to assess the effect polyethylene microplastics and sulfonamides, both separately and combined. Our results indicated that all nematode univariate indices were decreased significantly, in all "treatments", compared to the control. A lesser taxonomic structure and relative abundances of biological traits modified were observed. Furthermore, the feeding diet, amphid shape and life strategy, colonizers (C) to persisters (P) appear to be most affected in Tunisia assemblages, while, in addition to the three biological traits cited, it is adult length that is most affected in Libya populations.
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