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Coral Feeding Behavior on Microplastics
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Researchers reviewed how corals interact with microplastics, finding that these marine invertebrates can ingest plastic particles, which may disrupt their natural feeding behavior and accumulate in reef ecosystems. Because corals form the foundation of marine food webs, microplastic ingestion at this level could have cascading effects throughout ocean food chains.
Microplastics travel along food chain, bio-accumulates in organisms, and interferes with natural feeding habits of marine organisms, yet effect of microplastics on marine invertebrates such as corals are poorly known. Here we first review microplastics with focus on...
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Microplastic ingestion by scleractinian corals
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Researchers documented for the first time that scleractinian corals on Australia's Great Barrier Reef actively ingest microplastics from surrounding water, raising serious concerns that plastic pollution could impair the feeding and health of reef-building corals already stressed by warming oceans.
Micro-Nano Plastics—Impact on Coral Ecosystem
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This review documents how micro- and nanoplastics threaten coral reef ecosystems, which support biodiversity and serve over 500 million people, by disrupting feeding, reproduction, and symbiotic algae. Coral reefs act as a sentinel for ocean health, and their decline under plastic pollution signals broader risks to marine food webs that humans depend on.
Plastics: An Additional Threat for Coral Ecosystems
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Plastic debris accumulating in oceans poses a compounding threat to coral reef ecosystems already stressed by climate change, ocean acidification, and overfishing. Microplastics can smother corals, introduce pathogens, and leach toxic chemicals, threatening the biodiversity and fisheries these reefs support.
Microplastics in the Ocean and their Consequences: Coral Reef Case Study
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"Researchers warn that microplastics accumulating in ocean ecosystems pose a cascading threat to coral reefs, which protect coastlines and produce oxygen, ultimately endangering marine biodiversity and human health through contaminated seafood." 2. 20129 — "Researchers review how microplastics permeate soils, water, and air worldwide, threatening plant, animal, and human health through multiple exposure pathways, while calling for coordinated societal action to reduce pollution at its source." 3. 34572 — "Researchers examine how widespread antibiotic use in medicine, farming, and aquaculture is contaminating water ecosystems with both antibiotic residues and antibiotic-resistance genes, raising concern that our water supplies may be accelerating the global resistance crisis." 4. 34169 — "Researchers document the pervasive contamination of human food supplies by microplastics, tracing how these particles enter crops, seafood, and packaged goods and what that means for what ends up on our plates every day." 5. 65196 — "Researchers discovered that the chemistry of iron minerals and pore water in underground aquifers significantly controls how far nanoplastic particles can travel, suggesting groundwater contamination from tiny plastics may be more widespread and persistent than previously understood." 6. 7192 — "Researchers found that combining microplastics from agricultural plastic film with zinc oxide nanoparticles from nano-fertilizers creates compounded stress in soil that harms mung bean growth, highlighting the underappreciated risks of mixing modern farming inputs." 7. 82335 — "Researchers systematically reviewed 180 studies to map which laboratory methods work best for identifying microplastics across different sample types, finding that density separation and organic digestion dominate sample preparation, a key step toward standardizing how the field measures contamination." 8. 82507 — "Researchers used computational fluid dynamics to model how microplastic shape affects where particles travel and settle in a tidal estuary, finding that particle shape is a critical but often overlooked factor in predicting environmental spread and cleanup planning." 9. 78334 — "Researchers outline the main sources of ocean microplastics — cosmetic microbeads, laundry fibers, and degrading plastic litter — and assess which reduction strategies, from filtration to policy, show the most promise for protecting marine life and human health." 10. 76444 — "Researchers review the global spread of microplastics through freshwater, oceans, and deep-sea sediments, identifying critical gaps in how scientists sample, identify, and assess the toxicity of these particles that must be closed to guide effective pollution policy." Once you grant Write permission, I can save these immediately.
The Impact of Microplastics on Filter-Feeding Megafauna
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Filter-feeding megafauna in the Mediterranean, including whale sharks and manta rays, ingest large quantities of microplastics while feeding near the surface where plastic concentrations are highest. These charismatic species serve as bioindicators of microplastic pollution and face direct physiological risk from chronic plastic ingestion and associated chemical contaminants.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.