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Microplastics\nAffect the Ecological Functioning of\nan Important Biogenic Habitat
Summary
This study exposed intact sediment cores containing oysters and mussels to microplastics and found significant changes in the diversity and functioning of the bivalve-dominated community, including reduced biodiversity and altered nutrient cycling. The findings show that microplastics affect not just individual animals but entire benthic ecosystem functions important for water quality and marine food production.
Biological\neffects of microplastics on the health of bivalves have\nbeen demonstrated elsewhere, but ecological impacts on the biodiversity\nand ecosystem functioning of bivalve-dominated habitats are unknown.\nThus, we exposed intact sediment cores containing European flat oysters\n(Ostrea edulis) or blue mussels (Mytilus\nedulis) in seawater to two different densities (2.5 or 25\nμg L–1) of biodegradable or conventional microplastics\nin outdoor mesocosms. We hypothesized that filtration rates of the\nbivalves, inorganic nitrogen cycling, primary productivity of sediment\ndwelling microphytobenthos, and the structure of invertebrate benthic\nassemblages would be influenced by microplastics. After 50 days, filtration\nby M. edulis was significantly less when exposed\nto 25 μg L–1 of either type of microplastics,\nbut there were no effects on ecosystem functioning or the associated\ninvertebrate assemblages. Contrastingly, filtration by O.\nedulis significantly increased when exposed to 2.5 or 25\nμg L–1 of microplastics, and porewater ammonium\nand biomass of benthic cyanobacteria decreased. Additionally the associated\ninfaunal invertebrate assemblages differed, with significantly less\npolychaetes and more oligochaetes in treatments exposed to microplastics.\nThese findings highlight the potential of microplastics to impact\nthe functioning and structure of sedimentary habitats and show that\nsuch effects may depend on the dominant bivalve present.
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