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Degradation & microplastics Dec2018 data to upload.xlsx
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This is a dataset accompanying a study that investigated how microplastic exposure interacts with coral reef habitat degradation to affect the behavior and survival of juvenile reef fish in the field. The data supports findings that microplastics and habitat loss together cause more harm to settling fish than either stressor alone.
Dataset for: McCormick MI, Chivers DP, Ferrari MCO, Blandford MI, Nanninga GB, Richardson C, Fakan EP, and Allan BJM. Submitted. Microplastic exposure interacts with habitat degradation to affect behaviour and survival of juvenile fish in the field.I single Excel datafileAbstract: Here we explore how the dual threat of habitat degradation and microplastic exposure may affect the behaviour and survival of coral reef fish in the field. Fish were caught prior to settlement and pulse fed polystyrene microplastic six times over four days, then placed in the field on live or dead-degraded coral patches. Exposure to microplastics or dead coral led fish to be bolder, more active and stray further from shelter compared to control fish. Effect sizes indicated that plastic exposure had a greater effect on behavior than degraded habitat and we found no evidence of synergistic effects. This pattern was also displayed in their survival in the field. Our results highlight that the reduction of microplastic in the environment will be a useful management strategy, since minimising microplastic intake by fishes will work concurrently with reef restoration strategies to enhance the resilience of coral reef communities
More Papers Like This
Supplementary material from "Microplastic exposure interacts with habitat degradation to affect behaviour and survival of juvenile fish in the field"
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This field study exposed juvenile coral reef fish to polystyrene microplastics and then released them onto either healthy or degraded coral reef patches. Fish exposed to microplastics on degraded reefs had significantly higher mortality and altered behavior compared to controls, demonstrating that microplastic exposure and habitat degradation can interact to amplify harm to reef fish in the wild.
Microplastic exposure interacts with habitat degradation to affect behaviour and survival of juvenile fish in the field
AI summary Read the abstract
Juvenile coral reef fish pulse-fed polystyrene microplastics and then released onto live or degraded coral patches became bolder, more active, and strayed farther from shelter — with microplastic exposure having a larger behavioral effect than habitat degradation — potentially increasing predation risk in the field.
Data for: McCormick, Chivers, Ferrari, Blandford, Fakan & Allan. Microplastic consumption interacts with habitat degradation to affect behaviour and survival of juvenile fish
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This dataset accompanies a study on how coral reef fish respond to microplastics under predicted climate change conditions, including elevated CO2 and temperature. The data supports research on whether environmental stress makes marine organisms more vulnerable to plastic pollution.
Microplastic contamination of coral reef fish larvae of the Great Barrier Reef: baseline data and influences of oceanographic and ecological features
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This study found microplastic contamination in coral reef fish larvae from the Great Barrier Reef, where larval fish are uniquely vulnerable because microplastics overlap in size with their natural zooplankton prey and are concentrated by the same oceanographic processes. Ingestion of microplastics by larvae could impair early development and recruitment to reef fish populations.
Microplastic contamination in coral reef fish larvae: ecological and oceanographic features influence exposure risk.
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Researchers investigated microplastic contamination in coral reef fish larvae, finding that ecological and oceanographic features such as larval aggregation processes and proximity to plastic accumulation zones significantly influence the degree of microplastic exposure risk for larval fish.
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