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Microplastic ingestion: Are seabirds more affected than other marine species?
Summary
This review examines whether seabirds ingest plastic more frequently than other marine species, finding they are among the most affected groups with high rates of plastic ingestion documented across species. The review discusses factors including foraging behavior, habitat, and ocean plastic concentrations that explain why seabirds are particularly vulnerable.
In recent times, plastic production has increased due to the convenience and multipurpose use. As plastic may make lifeeasier on humans, the amount of plastic debris has increased as well as the effect on marine life. Since it is a relatively new topic,the effects on marine species are trying to be modeled in laboratories and observed in the field. The effects of plastic marine debrisinclude but are not limited to entanglement, ingestion, possible bioaccumulation, chemical exposures, and even death. Larger plasticscan become smaller particles, microplastics, which are difficult to study the effects on marine life due to the small size. Microplasticsare a global issue that effect species. Some of the factors that are considered of why different organisms ingest plastics include:method of feeding, color, age, and accidental/secondary ingestion. The focus of this research article is the ingestion of averagepercentage of microplastics of seabird species compared to other marine species throughout the world.
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