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Millimeter-Sized Marine Plastics: A New Pelagic Habitat for Microorganisms and Invertebrates
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Scanning electron microscopy of small floating plastics from around Australia revealed diverse colonizing organisms including bacteria, diatoms, barnacle larvae, and bryozoans — some of which are potential invaders in non-native regions. The study demonstrates that millimeter-scale marine plastics function as long-distance transport rafts for diverse biota.
Millimeter-sized plastics are abundant in most marine surface waters, and known to carry fouling organisms that potentially play key roles in the fate and ecological impacts of plastic pollution. In this study we used scanning electron microscopy to characterize biodiversity of organisms on the surface of 68 small floating plastics (length range = 1.7-24.3 mm, median = 3.2 mm) from Australia-wide coastal and oceanic, tropical to temperate sample collections. Diatoms were the most diverse group of plastic colonizers, represented by 14 genera. We also recorded 'epiplastic' coccolithophores (7 genera), bryozoans, barnacles (Lepas spp.), a dinoflagellate (Ceratium), an isopod (Asellota), a marine worm, marine insect eggs (Halobates sp.), as well as rounded, elongated, and spiral cells putatively identified as bacteria, cyanobacteria, and fungi. Furthermore, we observed a variety of plastic surface microtextures, including pits and grooves conforming to the shape of microorganisms, suggesting that biota may play an important role in plastic degradation. This study highlights how anthropogenic millimeter-sized polymers have created a new pelagic habitat for microorganisms and invertebrates. The ecological ramifications of this phenomenon for marine organism dispersal, ocean productivity, and biotransfer of plastic-associated pollutants, remains to be elucidated.
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Microfouling communities from pelagic and benthic marine plastic debris sampled across Mediterranean coastal waters
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Scanning electron microscopy revealed that diatoms are the most abundant organisms colonizing plastic debris in both surface waters and on the seafloor across Mediterranean coastal waters. The distinct microbial communities found on plastics — the 'plastisphere' — may facilitate the spread of non-native species to new environments when plastic rafts travel long distances.
Marine Litter as Habitat and Dispersal Vector
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This review documents 387 taxa of organisms — including microbes, algae, and invertebrates — found rafting on floating marine litter across all major ocean regions, establishing anthropogenic debris as a significant new dispersal vector for marine species. Researchers discuss the ecological implications of litter-assisted rafting, including the potential spread of non-native and invasive species to new regions.
Marine biofouling organisms on macro and microplastics
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This thesis reviewed biofouling organisms — bacteria, algae, and invertebrates — that colonize both macro and microplastics in marine environments. Biofouling communities on plastic surfaces change the buoyancy and transport of plastic particles and can carry invasive species to new locations.
Plastics in the North Atlantic garbage patch: A boat-microbe for hitchhikers and plastic degraders
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Researchers examined the microbial communities living on plastic debris in the North Atlantic garbage patch, finding that plastics host unique communities of bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes distinct from surrounding seawater. The study highlights that floating plastics act as "microbial islands" that could facilitate the long-distance transport of potentially invasive or pathogenic organisms.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.