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Epiplastic microhabitats for epibenthic organisms: a new inland water frontier for diatoms
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This study investigated whether diatom communities colonize plastic surfaces floating in an Italian inland lake, finding that plastics host distinct 'epiplastic' diatom assemblages compared to natural substrates. Colonization patterns differed between polystyrene and PET plastics and varied with depth. The findings add freshwater to the growing literature on plastisphere microhabitats.
Abstract Plastic pollution is widespread in each type of ecosystems. However, the colonization events of microorganisms on plastics seems to be neglected in inland waters. Therefore, in this study we analyse the possible colonization on the surface (hereafter epiplastic microhabitats) of two typology of plastic supports by diatom community. Specifically, we located 20 supports in expanded polystyrene and 20 in polyethylene terephthalate both floating and dipped (about/~ 1 m) in a central Italian shallow water pond, in order to evaluate the diachronic colonization of diatoms from November 2019 to August 2020. Our result shown the tendency in colonizing both epiplastic microhabitats without significant differences in number of species; additionally, depth does not appear to affect the number of species. As regard the temporal colonization, the number of species tends to increase over time from autumn-winter to spring-summer in both type of epiplastic microhabitats and depth. Instead, increase in dominance of some species over time has been demonstrated: only a few species keep an high number of individuals compared to the others; therefore, the number of individuals within the species is not uniformly distributed. These results suggest the tendency of diatom community to colonize plastic supports in lentic waters, and this evidence can be very important because artificial supports can increase the surface available for the settlement of the algae community with an increase of productivity and the colonization of new communities of different taxa. Further studies are mandatory to investigate the possible effects on the epiplastic community and the ecological implications in freshwater environments.
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Epiplastic microhabitats for epibenthic organisms: a new inland water frontier for diatoms
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Researchers studied how diatoms — microscopic single-celled algae — colonize plastic surfaces floating in a freshwater pond in Italy over nine months. The number of diatom species increased over time on both polystyrene and PET plastics, suggesting that plastic debris in inland waters creates new artificial habitats that could alter freshwater ecosystems.
Microfouling communities from pelagic and benthic marine plastic debris sampled across Mediterranean coastal waters
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Scanning electron microscopy revealed that diatoms are the most abundant organisms colonizing plastic debris in both surface waters and on the seafloor across Mediterranean coastal waters. The distinct microbial communities found on plastics — the 'plastisphere' — may facilitate the spread of non-native species to new environments when plastic rafts travel long distances.
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Researchers examined how diatoms and invertebrates colonize plastic debris in wetlands, finding that plastic surfaces host distinct biological communities compared to natural substrates. This suggests that plastic pollution in wetlands disrupts natural ecosystem processes beyond direct physical harm to wildlife.
Lacustrine plastisphere: Distinct succession and assembly processes of prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities and role of site, time, and polymer types
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Researchers investigated how microbial communities colonize different types of microplastic polymers in freshwater lakes. The study found that bacteria and single-celled organisms follow distinct assembly patterns on microplastic surfaces, with colonization time, location, and polymer type all influencing community composition. These findings suggest microplastics serve as carriers that can promote microbial spread in aquatic environments.
Plastisphere in Lakes: Biodiversity, Structure and Possible Implications for Freshwater Ecosystems
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Researchers characterized prokaryotic and eukaryotic plastisphere communities on microplastics from four lakes in Italy using 16S and 18S rRNA high-throughput sequencing and fluorescence in situ hybridization with confocal laser scanning microscopy. Despite geographic variation among sites, plastisphere communities shared a core microbiome of known biofilm formers that was compositionally distinct from surrounding planktonic communities.
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