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Is Zooplankton an Entry Point of Microplastics into the Marine Food Web?

Environmental Science & Technology 2023 49 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 50 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Kuddithamby Gunaalan, Kuddithamby Gunaalan, Claudia Lorenz, Kuddithamby Gunaalan, Jes Vollertsen, Kuddithamby Gunaalan, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Rodrigo Almeda Alvise Vianello, Rodrigo Almeda Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Rodrigo Almeda Alvise Vianello, Rodrigo Almeda Claudia Lorenz, Alvise Vianello, Claudia Lorenz, Alvise Vianello, Rodrigo Almeda Alvise Vianello, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Alvise Vianello, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Rodrigo Almeda Claudia Lorenz, Kuddithamby Gunaalan, Kuddithamby Gunaalan, Claudia Lorenz, Rodrigo Almeda Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Alvise Vianello, Claudia Lorenz, Alvise Vianello, Claudia Lorenz, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Alvise Vianello, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Alvise Vianello, Claudia Lorenz, Alvise Vianello, Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Claudia Lorenz, Alvise Vianello, Rodrigo Almeda Alvise Vianello, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Rodrigo Almeda Alvise Vianello, Rodrigo Almeda Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Claudia Lorenz, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Claudia Lorenz, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Claudia Lorenz, Jes Vollertsen, Claudia Lorenz, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Kuddithamby Gunaalan, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Rodrigo Almeda Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Rodrigo Almeda Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Jes Vollertsen, Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Jes Vollertsen, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Jes Vollertsen, Claudia Lorenz, Rodrigo Almeda Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Jes Vollertsen, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Jes Vollertsen, Claudia Lorenz, Jes Vollertsen, Claudia Lorenz, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Claudia Lorenz, Jes Vollertsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Rodrigo Almeda Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Alvise Vianello, Jes Vollertsen, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Rodrigo Almeda Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Jes Vollertsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Claudia Lorenz, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Rodrigo Almeda Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Ceelin Aila Andersen, Rodrigo Almeda Jes Vollertsen, Ceelin Aila Andersen, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Alvise Vianello, Jes Vollertsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Claudia Lorenz, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Claudia Lorenz, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Alvise Vianello, Jes Vollertsen, Rodrigo Almeda Claudia Lorenz, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Alvise Vianello, Jes Vollertsen, Rodrigo Almeda Claudia Lorenz, Jes Vollertsen, Claudia Lorenz, Jes Vollertsen, Rodrigo Almeda Claudia Lorenz, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Rodrigo Almeda Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Rodrigo Almeda Jes Vollertsen, Rodrigo Almeda Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Rodrigo Almeda Alvise Vianello, Jes Vollertsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Claudia Lorenz, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Alvise Vianello, Alvise Vianello, Jes Vollertsen, Jes Vollertsen, Rodrigo Almeda

Summary

Researchers investigated microplastic ingestion by zooplankton in natural marine environments, examining whether copepods and other zooplankton serve as an entry point for transferring microplastics from the water column into the marine food web.

Study Type Environmental

Microplastics (MPs) overlap in size with phytoplankton and can be ingested by zooplankton, transferring them to higher trophic levels. Copepods are the most abundant metazoans among zooplankton and the main link between primary producers and higher trophic levels. Ingestion of MPs has been investigated in the laboratory, but we still know little about the ingestion of MPs by zooplankton in the natural environment. In this study, we determined the concentration and characteristics of MPs down to 10 μm in zooplankton samples, sorted calanoid copepods, and fecal pellets collected in the Kattegat/Skagerrak Sea (Denmark). We found a median concentration of 1.7 × 10-3 MPs ind-1 in the zooplankton samples, 2.9 × 10-3 MPs ind-1 in the sorted-copepods, and 3 × 10-3 MPs per fecal pellet. Most MPs in the zooplankton samples and fecal pellets were fragments smaller than 100 μm, whereas fibers dominated in the sorted copepods. Based on the collected data, we estimated a MP budget for the surface layer (0-18 m), where copepods contained only 3% of the MPs in the water, while 5% of the MPs were packed in fecal pellets. However, the number of MPs exported daily to the pycnocline via fecal pellets was estimated to be 1.4% of the total MPs in the surface layer. Our results indicate that zooplankton are an entry point of small MPs in the food web, but the number of MPs in zooplankton and their fecal pellets was low compared with the number of MPs found in the water column and the occurrence and/or ingestion of MPs reported for nekton. This suggests a low risk of MP transferring to higher trophic levels through zooplankton and a quantitatively low, but ecologically relevant, contribution of fecal pellets to the vertical exportation of MPs in the ocean.

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