We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Microplastic abundance in gull nests in relation to urbanization
AI summary Read the abstract
Microplastic counts in herring gull and great black-backed gull nests at three US colonies showed higher proportions of microplastics in urban nests than in remote ones, linking urbanization to greater microplastic accumulation in coastal bird nesting habitats.
Human activity and urbanization are having profound effects on natural landscapes and ecosystems. The presence and persistence of human-made materials such as microplastics can have major impacts on the health of organisms in both marine and terrestrial environments. We quantified microplastics in herring gull (Larus argentatus) and great black-backed gull (Larus marinus) nests at three colonies in the northeast United States that varied in their degree of urbanization: Jamaica Bay (JB) in New York City, Youngs Island (YI) on Long Island, New York, and Tuckernuck Island (TN) in Massachusetts. Nests in urban colonies contained a higher proportion of microplastics than those in the more remote colony. Our results link urbanization with microplastic accumulation in coastal environments and suggest that assessing microplastics in seabird nests could provide a means of evaluating microplastics encountered by seabirds and other coastal marine animals.
More Papers Like This
Contrasting patterns of plastic ingestion and transport by an opportunistic gull across urban and agricultural landscapes
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers compared plastic ingestion and GPS-tracked transport behavior in yellow-legged gulls breeding in urban Barcelona versus an inland agricultural area, finding that urban gulls carried plastics in 100% of regurgitated pellets and transported roughly ten times more plastic debris to their colonies than their inland counterparts.
Characterization of plastic ingestion in urban gull chicks and its implications for their use as pollution sentinels in coastal cities
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers examined the stomach contents of 56 yellow-legged gull chicks in Barcelona and found microplastics in 100% of the birds, with larger plastic pieces in about 20%. The chicks ingested plastics from their urban coastal environment, mostly fragments and fibers from common consumer plastics. This study shows how urban wildlife can serve as indicators of plastic pollution levels and highlights the widespread contamination of coastal food webs that humans also depend on.
A methodology for the sampling and identification of microplastics in bird nests
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers developed and tested a green (chemical-free) method to extract and identify microplastics from bird nests, finding an average of 250 microplastic items per nest in urban Great-tailed grackle nests, mostly synthetic polyethylene and polypropylene fibers. Bird nests offer a practical, non-invasive way to monitor microplastic contamination in urban and terrestrial environments.
Anthropogenic Diets and Spatial Behaviour Predict Plastic Ingestion in Urban Herring Gulls: Insights from Pellet Analysis and Gps Tracking.
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers tracked seagulls in eastern Canada and found that birds who fed more often on human food waste and moved around less predictably ate more plastic, mostly from packaging materials like polystyrene (foam) and PET (common in bottles). This matters because these gulls act as an early-warning signal for how much plastic trash is entering our coastal food chains, the same waterways and wildlife that connect back to the seafood and environment humans share.
Differential microplastic contamination of waterbirds in a coastal region associated with trophic groups and spatial distribution
AI summary Read the abstract
A study of waterbird feces in southern Brazil found that shorebirds feeding in sediments had far higher microplastic loads than fish-eating birds, and contamination was worst near urban areas, with polyester and PVC the most common polymers detected. Trophic position and proximity to cities both shape how much plastic wildlife ingests, providing a natural monitoring system for tracking coastal microplastic pollution.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.