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Data and Code for the publication 'Floodplain vegetation filters microplastics during a major Rhine flood event'

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This paper is a research data and code release accompanying a published study on how floodplain vegetation in Cologne, Germany acts as a natural filter for microplastics during major flood events on the Rhine River. The dataset includes meteorological measurements, plant biomass data, and microplastic counts from vegetation deposits after the 2021 flood. The underlying finding — that plants along riverbanks can trap significant quantities of microplastics during floods — has implications for understanding how natural landscapes slow the spread of plastic pollution into aquatic ecosystems.

The dataset contains data on meteological data, above ground biomass, deposit masses and microplastic abundances from deposits on floodplain vegetation in the floodplain Langel-Merkenich (Cologne, Germany) after the flood event 2021. They were analysed in the paper by M. Rolf, H. Laermanns, C. Laforsch, M. G. J. Löder, C. Bogner "Floodplain vegetation filters microplastics during a major Rhine flood event" (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s43591-026-00181-w) published in Microplastics and Nanoplastics. The ZIP-file contains: 5x R-Markdown files: Start with Data_read_in, Analysis_plots_sqm, Analysis_plots_g, Correlation_plots and precip_data. 1x folder: MP_datasome folders are empty, but they will be used once you run the R-Code. The R-Code is running on R4.5.2 and RStudio 2026.01.0 Build 392. If you face any issue with dataset, please let me know.

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Data and Code for the publication 'Floodplain vegetation filters microplastics during a major Rhine flood event'

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