Collection

Virtual Special Issue: Zooplankton Plastivory

Introduction by Xabier Irigoien

In scarcely more than 50 years plastic pollution has become a global issue (Zalasiewicz et al. 2016), affecting even the most remote regions of the ocean (Van Cauwenberghe et al. 2013; Cózar et al. 2014). Plastics enter the ocean as objects of a very large size range, from big items (bags, bottles, fishing nets, floats, etc.), to microplastics derived from the fragmentation of the large objects (Cózar et al. 2014) as well as very small particles such as those used in cosmetics (Napper et al. 2015). Fundamentally, plastic pollution is largely a waste management issue and therefore should be relatively easy to avoid; reducing plastic pollution requires mainly improved waste management and recycling policies. Meanwhile though, two main questions remain unanswered with regard to plastic pollution in the ocean: 1) What is the effect of the plastic on organisms ingesting them, including us? and 2) What is the ultimate fate of the plastics entering the ocean?

Large plastics have obvious direct impacts on marine life, for example, causing mortality through mechanical effects on several endangered species (Gall and Thompson 2015). However, plastics of different origins and different sizes (i.e. micro and nano-sizes) are likely to enter the food chain at different trophic levels. Furthermore the consequences of their entering the food chain are largely unknown (Smith et al. 2018). In terms of fate, most of the plastics entering the ocean are unaccounted for and in particular the smaller sizes are missing (Cózar et al. 2014). Which fraction of plastics sinks to the sea bottom (Woodall et al. 2014) or is incorporated into the food chain remains unknown. Both of these issues, fate and effect, have motivated considerable research effort examining the ingestion of plastics by different groups, from megafauna to zooplankton (Derraik 2002; Davison and Asch 2011; Cole et al. 2013; Cole et al. 2015; Vroom et al. 2017). However, it is important to note that in plankton research a large body of knowledge on plastic ingestion by zooplankton already exists.

Since the late 70s plastic beads of different sizes have been used extensively to study the feeding behaviour of different planktonic organisms, for example, examining the effects of particle size and selection between inert and living particles. The first year of JPR included a paper on copepod ingestion of plastic microspheres (Fernandez 1979). Here in this virtual issue we have collected papers published in the Journal of Plankton Research with examples of "plastivory" (J. Dolan's term) in a wide range of planktonic organisms, from environments, both marine and freshwater, and plastic fragment sizes. From heterotrophic flagellates and ciliates (Hall et al. 1993; Dolan and Coats 1991) to salps (Kremer and Madin 1992). This collection of papers shows that plastic fragments are likely to enter the trophic chain at all levels of the planktonic compartment. The large body of knowledge generated from studies of feeding behaviour can probably be used to obtain general patterns of the filtration rates and therefore provide a first order estimate of the potential ingestion of plastics by zooplankton.

JPR Plastivory Papers

Gelatinous Zooplankton Plastivory:

Particle retention efficiency of salps
Patricia Kremer and Laurence P. Madin
Journal of Plankton Research, 14.7 (1992): 1009-1015

Grazing rates for three life history stages of the doliolid Dolioletta gegenbauri Uljanin (Tunicata, Thaliacea)
Christopher M. Tebeau and Laurence P. Madin
Journal of Plankton Research, 16.8 (1994): 1075-1081

Artemia Plastivory:

Food size selectivity of Artemia franciscana at three developmental stages
Pavlos Makridis and Olav Vadstein
Journal of Plankton Research, 21.11 (1999): 2191-2201

Ciliate Microzooplankton Plastivory:

A study of feeding in predacious ciliates using prey ciliates labeled with fluorescent microspheres
John R. Dolan and D. Wayne Coats
Journal of Plankton Research, 13.3 (1991): 609-627

Particle capture by Favella sp. (Ciliata, Tintinnina)
Diane K. Stoecker et al.
Journal of Plankton Research, 17.5 (1995): 1105-1124

Dinoflagellate Microzoooplankton Plastivory:

Feeding, prey selection and prey encounter mechanisms in the heterotrophic dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans
Thomas Ki?rboe and Josefin Titelman
Journal of Plankton Research, 20.8 (1998): 1615-1636

Nano-flagellate Plastivory:

The importance of phytoflagellate, heterotrophic flagellate and ciliate grazing on bacteria and picophytoplankton sized prey in a coastal marine environment
Julie A. Hall, D. Paul Barrett, and Mark R. James
Journal of Plankton Research, 15.9 (1993): 1075-1086

Phosphorus gain by bacterivory promotes the mixotrophic flagellate Dinobryon spp. during re-oligotrophication
Norbert Kamjunke, Tanja Henrichs, and Ursula Gaedke
Journal of Plankton Research, 29.1 (2006): 39-46

References

M. Cole et al. (2015) "The impact of polystyrene microplastics on feeding, function and fecundity in the marine copepod Calanus helgolandicus." Environmental Science and Technology 49(2): 1130-1137

M. Cole et al. (2013) "Microplastic ingestion by zooplankton." Environmental Science and Technology 47(12): 6646-6655

A. Cózar et al. (2014) "Plastic debris in the open ocean." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111(28): 10239-10244

P. Davison and R. G. Asch (2011) "Plastic ingestion by mesopelagic fishes in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre." Marine Ecology Progress Series 432: 173-180

J. G. Derraik (2002) "The pollution of the marine environment by plastic debris: a review." Marine Pollution Bulletin 44(9): 842-852

J. R. Dolan and D. W. Coats (1991) "A study of feeding in predacious ciliates using prey ciliates labeled with fluorescent microspheres." Journal of Plankton Research 13(3): 609-627

F. Fernandez (1979) "Particle selection in the nauplius of Calanus pacificus." Journal of Plankton Research 1(4): 313-328

S. C. Gall and R. C. Thompson (2015) "The impact of debris on marine life." Marine Pollution Bulletin 92: 170-179

Julie A. Hall, D. Paul Barrett, and Mark R. James (1993) "The importance of phytoflagellate, heterotrophic flagellate and ciliate grazing on bacteria and picophytoplankton sized prey in a coastal marine environment." Journal of Plankton Research 15(9): 1075-1086

P. Kremer and L. P. Madin (1992) "Particle retention efficiency of salps." Journal of Plankton Research 14(7): 1009-1015

I. E. Napper et al. (2015) "Characterisation, quantity and sorptive properties of microplastics extracted from cosmetics." Marine Pollution Bulletin 99(1-2): 178-185

M. Smith et al. (2018) "Microplastics in Seafood and the Implications for Human Health." Current Environmental Health Reports 5(3): 375-386

L. Van Cauwenberghe (2013) "Microplastic pollution in deep-sea sediments." Environmental Pollution 182: 495-499

R. J. Vroom et al. (2017) "Aging of microplastics promotes their ingestion by marine zooplankton." Environmental Pollution 231: 987-996

L. C. Woodall et al. (2014) "The deep sea is a major sink for microplastic debris." Royal Society Open Science 1(4): 140317

J. Zalasiewicz et al. (2016) "The geological cycle of plastics and their use as a stratigraphic indicator of the Anthropocene." Anthropocene 13: 4-17

Explore more virtual special issues from JPR in the archive.

Virtual Special Issue: Zooplankton Plastivory

Introduction by Xabier Irigoien

JPR Plastivory Papers

Gelatinous Zooplankton Plastivory:

Invertebrate Larvae Plastivory:

Copepod Plastivory:

Daphnid & Rotifer Plastivory:

Artemia Plastivory:

Ciliate Microzooplankton Plastivory:

Dinoflagellate Microzoooplankton Plastivory:

Nano-flagellate Plastivory:

References

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Virtual Special Issue: Zooplankton Plastivory

Introduction by Xabier Irigoien

JPR Plastivory Papers

Gelatinous Zooplankton Plastivory:

Invertebrate Larvae Plastivory:

Copepod Plastivory:

Daphnid & Rotifer Plastivory:

Artemia Plastivory:

Ciliate Microzooplankton Plastivory:

Dinoflagellate Microzoooplankton Plastivory:

Nano-flagellate Plastivory:

References

Latest

Most Read

Most Cited

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