We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Environmental conditions affect the food quality of plastic associated biofilms for the benthic grazer Physa fontinalis
Summary
Researchers grew natural biofilms on PE, PET, and polystyrene plastics in a freshwater stream across winter and spring seasons and fed them to a grazing snail, finding that PE and PET supported lower-quality biofilms with reduced algal growth under cold, low-light winter conditions — an effect masked by favorable spring conditions.
With an ever-increasing amount of plastic pollution in the various aquatic ecosystems around the world, the effects on organisms are still not fully understood. Most studies focus on direct effects posed by plastic intake or entanglement, but plastic debris can also affect primary production of biofilms and have an indirect impact on its consumers. This study investigates the primary production on three common plastic types in freshwater and its food quality for a benthic grazer. We hypothesized that different polymer types affect biofilm composition as well as the life parameters of its consumers. We incubated polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polystyrene (PS) as well as glass (control) in a productive freshwater creek for natural biofilm establishment. To account for changes in the environmental conditions, the experiment was conducted twice during winter and late spring, respectively. These biofilms were offered to the freshwater gastropod Physa fontinalis as sole food source. Growth and reproduction of the snails were measured to monitor sublethal effects. Additionally, biofilm composition was observed using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). In winter, snails feeding off PET and PE showed a significantly lower egg production and lower growth rates were observed on PET. No such effects occurred in spring. CLSM data revealed, that algal growth was significantly lower on PE and PET during the winter treatment compared to PS and glass. Since we could only find these effects during the colder and darker months (January-March), the microbial colonization on PE and PET was inhibited by the substrate under less favorable conditions of temperature and light. Hence, benign conditions may mask the adverse effects of microplastic on food webs. Our findings show that future studies on the plastisphere will need to consider such variations to further understand the influence of plastic pollution on primary production and higher trophic levels.
Sign in to start a discussion.
More Papers Like This
A domesticated photoautotrophic microbial community as a biofilm model system for analyzing the influence of plastic surfaces on invertebrate grazers in limnic environments
Researchers developed a domesticated photoautotrophic microbial community as a biofilm model system to analyse how plastic surfaces influence invertebrate grazers in freshwater environments. The study found that biofilms growing on plastic substrates affected grazer behaviour and feeding differently than biofilms on natural surfaces, with implications for understanding how plastic pollution disrupts limnic food web interactions.
Fate and effects of microplastic particles in a periphyton-grazer system
This study examined how microplastic particles interact with periphyton, the biofilm communities coating underwater surfaces, and whether plastics transfer to grazing snails that feed on them. Researchers found that microplastics accumulated in periphyton and were then consumed by the freshwater snail Physa acuta, demonstrating a pathway for plastics to move through the aquatic food web from biofilms to animals.
Plastic habitats: Algal biofilms on photic and aphotic plastics
Researchers tracked algae colonizing plastic surfaces in a freshwater reservoir over six weeks, finding that different plastic types developed distinct algae communities and that plastic surfaces showed early signs of degradation — suggesting that biofouling may accelerate microplastic fragmentation in freshwater systems.
Impacts of plastic surface on the periphyton under different nutrient and temperature: A mesocosm experiment
This mesocosm experiment investigated how microplastics affect periphyton (biofilm communities that grow on surfaces in water) under different nutrient levels and temperatures. Microplastics altered periphyton development in ways that could affect oxygen production and the feeding of organisms that graze on biofilm, with potential ripple effects throughout aquatic food webs.
Effects of plastisphere on phosphorus availability in freshwater system: Critical roles of polymer type and colonizing habitat
This study examined how biofilm-covered microplastics of different polymer types affect phosphorus availability in freshwater, finding that polymer type and colonization habitat determined whether plastisphere biofilms acted as phosphorus sources or sinks, with implications for nutrient cycling in aquatic ecosystems.