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Microplastic leachates impair behavioural vigilance and predator avoidance in a temperate intertidal gastropod.

ABSTRACT: Microplastics are a ubiquitous source of contaminations in marine ecosystems, and have major implications for marine life. Much effort has been devoted to assessing the various effects of microplastics on marine life. No evidence exists, however, on the effects of microplastic leachates on chemically mediated predator-prey interactions and the ability of prey to detect and avoid its predator. This study shows that microplastic leachates have direct biological effects by disturbing the behavioural response of the intertidal gastropod Littorina littorea to the presence of Carcinus maenas chemical cues, hence increasing their vulnerability to predation. Leachates from virgin and beached pellets respectively impaired and inhibited L. littorea vigilance and antipredator behaviours. These results suggest that the biological effects from microplastic leachates may have major implications for marine ecosystems on taxa that rely on chemosensory cues to escape predation.

SUBMITTER: Seuront L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6283917 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Microplastic leachates impair behavioural vigilance and predator avoidance in a temperate intertidal gastropod.

Seuront Laurent L

Biology letters 20181128 11

Microplastics are a ubiquitous source of contaminations in marine ecosystems, and have major implications for marine life. Much effort has been devoted to assessing the various effects of microplastics on marine life. No evidence exists, however, on the effects of microplastic leachates on chemically mediated predator-prey interactions and the ability of prey to detect and avoid its predator. This study shows that microplastic leachates have direct biological effects by disturbing the behavioura ...[more]

PMID: 30487257

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Project description:BackgroundEach year, approximately 9.5 million metric tons of plastic waste enter the ocean with the potential to adversely impact all trophic levels. Until now, our understanding of the impact of plastic pollution on marine microorganisms has been largely restricted to the microbial assemblages that colonize plastic particles. However, plastic debris also leaches considerable amounts of chemical additives into the water, and this has the potential to impact key groups of planktonic marine microbes, not just those organisms attached to plastic surfaces.ResultsTo investigate this, we explored the population and genetic level responses of a marine microbial community following exposure to leachate from a common plastic (polyvinyl chloride) or zinc, a specific plastic additive. Both the full mix of substances leached from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and zinc alone had profound impacts on the taxonomic and functional diversity of our natural planktonic community. Microbial primary producers, both prokaryotic and eukaryotic, which comprise the base of the marine food web, were strongly impaired by exposure to plastic leachates, showing significant declines in photosynthetic efficiency, diversity, and abundance. Key heterotrophic taxa, such as SAR11, which are the most abundant planktonic organisms in the ocean, also exhibited significant declines in relative abundance when exposed to higher levels of PVC leachate. In contrast, many copiotrophic bacteria, including members of the Alteromonadales, dramatically increased in relative abundance under both exposure treatments. Moreover, functional gene and genome analyses, derived from metagenomes, revealed that PVC leachate exposure selects for fast-adapting, motile organisms, along with enrichment in genes usually associated with pathogenicity and an increased capacity to metabolize organic compounds leached from PVC.ConclusionsThis study shows that substances leached from plastics can restructure marine microbial communities with the potential for significant impacts on trophodynamics and biogeochemical cycling. These findings substantially expand our understanding of the ways by which plastic pollution impact life in our oceans, knowledge which is particularly important given that the burden of plastic pollution in the marine environment is predicted to continue to rise. Video Abstract.

Dataset Information

Microplastic leachates impair behavioural vigilance and predator avoidance in a temperate intertidal gastropod.

Publications

Microplastic leachates impair behavioural vigilance and predator avoidance in a temperate intertidal gastropod.

Similar Datasets

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