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Microplastics impair the feeding performance of a Mediterranean habitat-forming coral
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Researchers found that microplastics impaired the feeding performance of the Mediterranean habitat-forming alga Halimeda incrassata, reducing filtration rates and causing physical interference that could disrupt its ecological role in seagrass and reef ecosystems. The findings highlight downstream ecosystem risks when microplastic exposure affects key structural species.
The impact of plastic debris, and in particular of microplastics (here referred as particles smaller than 5 mm) on aquatic environments has now become a topic of raising concern. Microplastics are particularly abundant in the Mediterranean Sea, potentially exerting substantial pressures on marine organisms at different levels of organization. Ingestion of microplastics has been observed in a large number of marine species. The aim of this work is to test if microplastics produce a feeding impairment in Astroides calycularis, a shallow water, habitat-forming coral endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. Our findings suggest a lack of any avoidance mechanism allowing the polyps to discern between food items and microplastics when occurring simultaneously. Moreover, polyps spend a considerable amount of time on handling microplastic particles. As a consequence, microplastics impair the feeding efficiency in A. calycularis, since polyps may not be fully able to profit from the drifting plankton aggregations. Therefore, we suggest that microplastics can cause a reduction of fitness in A. calycularis, and presumably also in other species characterized by suspension feeding strategy.
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Multiple impacts of microplastics can threaten marine habitat-forming species
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Researchers exposed red coral (Corallium rubrum), a long-lived Mediterranean habitat-forming species, to microplastics and found multiple impacts including reduced polyp feeding rates, elevated oxidative stress, and shifts in skeletal growth, suggesting that even sublethal MP exposure could impair the long-term persistence of coral habitats.
Microplastics inhibit the growth of endosymbiotic Symbiodinium tridacnidorum by altering photosynthesis and bacterial community
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Researchers exposed a type of algae that lives inside coral to polystyrene microplastics and found that the particles slowed cell growth and reduced photosynthesis. At higher concentrations, the microplastics clumped together with the algal cells and caused physical damage. The findings suggest that microplastic pollution could harm coral reef ecosystems by disrupting the essential relationship between corals and their symbiotic algae.
Physiological and biochemical effects of microplastics on corals: Environmental and ecological impacts and mitigation strategies and policy options
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Researchers review how microplastic ingestion disrupts coral physiology through oxidative stress, impaired larval settlement, reduced feeding efficiency, and vectoring of co-contaminants including heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants, with microplastic-induced bleaching linked to destabilization of the anthozoan-algae symbiosis.
Assessment of ecotoxicological effects of small microplastics on Mediterranean corals.
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Researchers assessed the ecotoxicological effects of small microplastics on Mediterranean coral species, with a focus on transgenerational impacts and energy allocation processes that have been largely overlooked in prior work concentrated predominantly on tropical coral systems.
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.