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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Marine plastic pollution as a vector for non-native species transport
ClearPlastic as a Vector of Dispersion for Marine Species With Invasive Potential. A Review
This review assessed floating plastic debris as a vector for marine alien species, synthesizing evidence on how plastic properties, surface conditioning, and oceanographic factors influence which species colonize and are transported, and evaluating the invasion risk posed by plastisphere communities.
Marine Litter as Habitat and Dispersal Vector
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.
Theories, Vectors, and Computer Models: Marine Invasion Science in the Anthropocene
This review covers how marine invasions occur through shipping, aquaculture, and other human vectors, and how they threaten biodiversity and economies. Floating plastic debris is identified as an emerging vector for marine invasive species, carrying organisms to new regions where they can disrupt native ecosystems.
The biogeography of the Plastisphere: implications for policy
This review examined the biogeography of the "plastisphere" — the communities of microorganisms living on floating plastic debris — and discussed its implications for marine policy. Because plastic surfaces carry unique, potentially invasive microbial communities across ocean basins, the authors argue that plastic pollution represents a vector for biological invasions with policy significance.
Plastic Pollution Meets Biological Invasions: A Systematic Review of Emerging Interactions
This systematic review summarizes research on how plastic pollution and invasive species interact in ecosystems. Plastic debris can transport invasive organisms to new environments, compounding ecological damage and potentially affecting the safety of food sources that humans rely on.
Pathogens transported by plastic debris: does this vector pose a risk to aquatic organisms?
This review examined whether microplastics act as vectors for pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens in marine and freshwater ecosystems. Evidence indicates that diverse microorganisms including pathogens adhere to microplastic surfaces, and modeling suggested potential for long-range pathogen transport, though the scale of ecological and public health risk remains uncertain.
Anthropogenic marine litter composition in coastal areas may be a predictor of potentially invasive rafting fauna
Researchers investigated whether the material composition of beached anthropogenic litter along the Asturian coastline in northern Spain could predict the diversity of rafting fauna attached to debris, using genetic barcoding and visual taxonomy to characterise attached biota across plastic types. Results showed that plastics — predominantly linked to fishing activity and household sources — were the dominant rafting vectors, and litter composition showed some predictive value for the frequency of certain rafting taxa.
A new look at the potential role of marine plastic debris as a global vector of toxic benthic algae
Researchers examined marine plastic debris as a global vector for toxic benthic algae, finding that floating plastics provide colonization surfaces that may expand harmful algal distribution and intensify toxic blooms across ocean regions.
Remote Islands Reveal Rapid Rise of Southern Hemisphere Sea Debris
Surveys of remote southern hemisphere islands showed that marine debris on shorelines — dominated by plastics — has increased substantially over recent decades, with floating plastic transporting organisms to places they have never existed before. The findings highlight that plastic pollution now threatens global biodiversity by serving as a vector for invasive species even in the most isolated parts of the ocean.
Distribution and importance of microplastics in the marine environment: A review of the sources, fate, effects, and potential solutions
This review synthesized research on the distribution and significance of microplastics across the marine environment, covering sources, transport pathways, ecological interactions, and the state of knowledge on biological and chemical effects.
Increasing risk of invasions by organisms on marine debris in the Southeast coast of India
Researchers examined plastic and other litter washed up on eight beaches in southeast India, identifying 17 species colonizing the debris including one invasive mussel not native to the region. The study is the first to document marine litter as a pathway for invasive species transport along India's coastline, where plastic consumption and pollution levels are among the highest in the world.
Marine biofouling organisms on macro and microplastics
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.
How Do They Do It? – Understanding the Success of Marine Invasive Species
This review examines the ecological strategies that allow marine invasive species to successfully establish in new environments, covering competitive ability, stress tolerance, and reproductive flexibility. Understanding invasion success in a changing ocean is relevant to microplastic research because plastic debris can serve as a transport vector for invasive species through hull fouling and plastic rafting.
Evaluating records of trans-Atlantic dispersal of drifting disseminules to European shores.
This study used plastic ocean drift as a proxy to model the risks that ocean-crossing disseminules (seeds and fruits) face during long-distance dispersal from the Americas to European coastlines. The comparison of plastic transport with biological dispersal offers insights into how floating debris, including plastic pollution, moves through the same ocean currents that distribute marine biodiversity.
Flotsam, an overlooked vector of alien dispersal from ports
Researchers used the bay of Gijon as a case study to examine whether anthropogenic floating litter acts as a dispersal vector for non-indigenous species (NIS), comparing communities on port substrates, nearby rocky beaches, and floating coastal debris. DNA barcoding and morphological identification of 717 organisms revealed 23 NIS including 6 invasive species, with flotsam harboring distinct community profiles dominated by Hexanauplia.
Fate of plastics and microplastics in the marine environment
This thesis reviewed how plastics and microplastics enter, move through, and accumulate in marine environments, examining sources, transport pathways, and long-term fate. Understanding the ocean's plastic burden is essential for predicting ecological and human health risks.
Plastics as vectors for pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes in aquatic systems.
This review examined how plastics in aquatic systems act as vectors for pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes, summarizing attachment mechanisms, transport dynamics, and the implications for water quality and public health.
Microplastics in the Marine Environment: Current Status, Assessment Methodologies, Impacts and Solutions
This review provides a comprehensive overview of microplastic distribution throughout the marine environment and evaluates assessment methodologies, finding significant gaps in standardization. The authors also discuss how microplastics contribute to the spread of non-native microbial species by providing long-distance transport surfaces.
Plastics and Microplastics as Vectors for Bacteria and Human Pathogens
This study reviewed how marine plastic debris serves as a surface for bacterial colonization, including human pathogens, and examined the novel communities forming on plastic surfaces. The research raises public health concerns about microplastics acting as rafts that transport harmful bacteria to new locations, including to seafood and coastal recreational areas.
Marine biofouling organisms on beached, buoyant and benthic plastic debris in the Catalan Sea
Fouling communities colonizing beached, floating, and benthic plastic debris were examined in the Catalan Sea, revealing differences in community composition linked to plastic substrate location and environmental conditions. The study confirms that plastic debris acts as a dispersal vector for marine fouling organisms across different depth zones in the western Mediterranean.
Plastics in the North Atlantic garbage patch: A boat-microbe for hitchhikers and plastic degraders
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.
Plastic Pollution in Oceans: a Review
This review examines plastic pollution in the world's oceans, covering sources, distribution pathways, ecological impacts, and the current state of scientific understanding of marine plastic contamination.
Marine Bioinvasions Facilitated by Artificial Structures: Implications for Biodiversity and Sustainable Infrastructure Design
Despite its title referencing marine bioinvasions and artificial structures, this paper studies how man-made marine infrastructure like ports and offshore platforms unintentionally spreads invasive species — not microplastic pollution. It examines how hull fouling and ballast water enable non-native species to colonize new environments and is not relevant to microplastics or human health.
Dynamics and implications of biofilm formation and community succession on floating marine plastic debris
Researchers examined how biofilms form on plastic debris in aquatic environments and how the resulting microbial communities evolve over time, finding that the plastisphere hosts distinct microbial assemblages including potential pathogens. The study has implications for understanding plastic debris as a vector for microbial dispersal.