Abstract
Marine plastic pollution is a well-recognised and debated issue affecting most marine ecosystems. Despite this, the threat of plastic pollution on seagrasses has not received significant scientific attention compared to other marine species and habitats. The present review aims to summarise the scientific data published in the last decade (January 2012–2023), concerning the evaluation of plastic pollution, of all sizes and types, including bio-based polymers, on several seagrass species worldwide. To achieve this goal, a comprehensive and critical review of 26 scientific papers has been carried out, taking into consideration the investigated areas, the seagrass species and the plant parts considered, the experimental design and the type of polymers analysed, both in field monitoring and in laboratory-controlled experiments. The outcomes of the present review clearly showed that the dynamics and effects of plastic pollution in seagrass are still under-explored. Most data emerged from Europe, with little or no data on plastic pollution in North and South America, Australia, Africa and Antarctica. Most of the studies were devoted to microplastics, with limited studies dedicated to macroplastics and only one to nanoplastics. The methodological approach (in terms of experimental design and polymer physico-chemical characterisation) should be carefully standardised, beside the use of a model species, such as Zostera marina, and further laboratory experiments. All these knowledge gaps must be urgently fulfilled, since valuable and reliable scientific knowledge is necessary to improve seagrass habitat protection measures against the current plastic pollution crisis.
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Acknowledgements
This study falls within the activities envisaged by the 5-year collaboration agreement (2022–2026) between ISPRA and the University of Naples Federico II. CMMI was established as a “Centre of Excellence” in Marine and Maritime Research, Technology Development and Innovation (RTDI) and has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 857586 and matching funding from the Government of the Republic of Cyprus. This work was realised in the framework of the project—Biomonitoraggio di micro e nanoplastiche biodegradabili: dall’ambiente all’uomo in una prospettiva one health (BioPlast4Safe)—with the technical and economic support of the Italian Ministry of Health–PNC. Laura Ciaralli was supported by a PhD fellowship (PhD in Biology, University of Naples Federico II) co-funded by the ISPRA (Rome, Italy). The authors would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments and suggestions to improve the paper.
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LC: writing—original draft, review, and editing—and data elaboration.
AR: conceptualization and writing—review and editing.
MS: writing—review and editing—and data elaboration.
CB: writing—review and editing—and data elaboration.
SC: conceptualization and writing—review and editing.
EC: writing—review and editing.
GL: writing—review and editing.
LM: conceptualization and writing—review and editing.
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Ciaralli, L., Rotini, A., Scalici, M. et al. The under-investigated plastic threat on seagrasses worldwide: a comprehensive review. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 8341–8353 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31716-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31716-w