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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.
To assess the potential risks of contemporary levels of plastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems, a large-scale experiment was conducted over 10 weeks in a boreal lake at the IISD-Experimental Lakes Area (Ontario, Canada). Fragments of common polymers (polyethylene, polystyrene, and polyethylene terephthalate), each with distinct colors and buoyancies, were added as a single pulse to seven in-lake mesocosms in equal contributions in a range of environmentally relevant nominal concentrations (6-29,240 particles/L). Two additional mesocosms with no added microplastics were used as controls. Zooplankton ingested low levels of microplastics (mean of 0.06 particles/individual ± SD 0.07) and generally their total abundance and community composition were not negatively impacted. Temporary changes were however observed; total zooplankton abundance and abundance of calanoid copepods were temporarily stimulated by increasing nominal microplastic concentrations, and modest, short-term reductions in egg production of the cyclopoid copepod Tropocyclops extensus and abundance of copepod nauplii occurred. Collectively, these results suggest that microplastics could have complex impacts on zooplankton communities, stimulating some species while negatively impacting others.
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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.
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Researchers tested whether realistic concentrations of polyester microplastic fibers affect freshwater zooplankton communities in experimental settings. The study found no significant effects on zooplankton abundance, diversity, or community structure at environmentally relevant concentrations, suggesting that current levels of fiber pollution may not substantially impact these organisms.
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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.
Freshwater Lacustrine Zooplankton and Microplastic: An Issue to Be Still Explored
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This review examined the interactions between freshwater lacustrine zooplankton and microplastics, highlighting how microplastic ingestion affects planktonic organisms that form the base of lake food webs. The authors call for more research on lake-specific microplastic dynamics.
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
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