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Marine & Wildlife
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Microplastics increase the marine production of particulate forms of organic matter
Environmental Research Letters2019
83 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 40
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Luisa Galgani,
Luisa Galgani,
Luisa Galgani,
Luisa Galgani,
Luisa Galgani,
Luisa Galgani,
Luisa Galgani,
Luisa Galgani,
Luisa Galgani,
Christina Zeri,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Luisa Galgani,
Christina Zeri,
Luisa Galgani,
Christina Zeri,
Christina Zeri,
Luisa Galgani,
Luisa Galgani,
Luisa Galgani,
Luisa Galgani,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Luisa Galgani,
Luisa Galgani,
Luisa Galgani,
Luisa Galgani,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Steven Loiselle
Steven Loiselle
Steven Loiselle
Steven Loiselle
Steven Loiselle
Luisa Galgani,
Christina Zeri,
Luisa Galgani,
Christina Zeri,
Christina Zeri,
Steven Loiselle
Steven Loiselle
Christina Zeri,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Manolis Tsapakis,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Ioanna Kalantzi,
Luisa Galgani,
Christina Zeri,
Christina Zeri,
Luisa Galgani,
Ioanna Kalantzi,
Ioanna Kalantzi,
Ioanna Kalantzi,
Ioanna Kalantzi,
Ioanna Kalantzi,
Ioanna Kalantzi,
Manolis Tsapakis,
Paraskevi Pitta,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Christina Zeri,
Christina Zeri,
Luisa Galgani,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Anastasia Tsiola,
Anastasia Tsiola,
Anastasia Tsiola,
Anastasia Tsiola,
Anastasia Tsiola,
Paraskevi Pitta,
Anastasia Tsiola,
Steven Loiselle
Anastasia Tsiola,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Anastasia Tsiola,
Manolis Tsapakis,
Manolis Tsapakis,
Manolis Tsapakis,
Manolis Tsapakis,
Steven Loiselle
Luisa Galgani,
Christina Zeri,
Luisa Galgani,
Christina Zeri,
Steven Loiselle
Christina Zeri,
Steven Loiselle
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Christina Zeri,
Steven Loiselle
Christina Zeri,
Luisa Galgani,
Manolis Tsapakis,
Manolis Tsapakis,
Luisa Galgani,
Manolis Tsapakis,
Anastasia Tsiola,
Paraskevi Pitta,
Ioanna Kalantzi,
Ioanna Kalantzi,
Ioanna Kalantzi,
Elli Pitta,
Luisa Galgani,
Paraskevi Pitta,
Elli Pitta,
Anastasia Tsiola,
Elli Pitta,
Paraskevi Pitta,
Steven Loiselle
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Chiara Esposito,
Chiara Esposito,
Chiara Esposito,
Chiara Esposito,
Chiara Esposito,
Chiara Esposito,
Chiara Esposito,
Chiara Esposito,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Chiara Esposito,
Anastasia Tsotskou,
Anastasia Tsotskou,
Anastasia Tsotskou,
Anastasia Tsotskou,
Anastasia Tsotskou,
Anastasia Tsotskou,
Anastasia Tsotskou,
Iordanis Magiopoulos,
Arturo Loiselle,
Arturo Loiselle,
Anastasia Tsotskou,
Christina Zeri,
Christina Zeri,
Christina Zeri,
Manolis Tsapakis,
Iordanis Magiopoulos,
Iordanis Magiopoulos,
Steven Loiselle
Anastasia Tsotskou,
Christina Zeri,
Anastasia Tsotskou,
Iordanis Magiopoulos,
Iordanis Magiopoulos,
Iordanis Magiopoulos,
Iordanis Magiopoulos,
Iordanis Magiopoulos,
Snežana Živanović,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Eleni Tzempelikou,
Snežana Živanović,
Eleni Dafnomili,
Eleni Dafnomili,
Steven Loiselle
Steven Loiselle
Steven Loiselle
Steven Loiselle
Santi Diliberto,
Santi Diliberto,
Steven Loiselle
Steven Loiselle
Luisa Galgani,
Kyriaki Mylona,
Steven Loiselle
Iordanis Magiopoulos,
Christina Zeri,
Elli Pitta,
Steven Loiselle
Summary
Researchers added polystyrene microbeads to oligotrophic seawater mesocosms and monitored organic matter and microbial dynamics over 12 days, finding that microplastics significantly increased the production of organic carbon and its aggregation into gel-like particles. The results suggest that microplastic-stimulated biofilm formation enhances particulate organic matter production with potential consequences for the marine biological pump and plastic transport.
Abstract Microplastics are a major environmental challenge, being ubiquitous and persistent as to represent a new component in all marine environments. As any biogenic particle, microplastics provide surfaces for microbial growth and biofilm production, which largely consists of carbohydrates and proteins. Biofilms influence microbial activity and modify particle buoyancy, and therefore control the fate of microplastics at sea. In a simulated ‘plastic ocean’, three mesocosms containing oligotrophic seawater were amended with polystyrene microbeads and compared to three control mesocosms. The evolution of organic matter, microbial communities and nutrient concentrations was monitored over 12 days. The results indicated that microplastics increased the production of organic carbon and its aggregation into gel particulates. The observed increase of gel-like organics has implications on the marine biological pump as well as the transport of microplastics in the ocean.